Bleeding Cherry Blossoms
by Crimson.Haven
Summary: Two people. Two Different Lives. One past. One longing. ByakuyaOC
1. Chapter 1

**Bleeding Cherry Blossoms**

**Chapter 1: Shinigami **

"Ichigo!"

A spiky orange-haired boy at about the age of fifteen looked behind himself to find a girl approaching him. She had long brownish gray hair that reached the middle of her back and mysterious cerulean blue eyes. "Hurry up Sakura!" Ichigo complained, 'We don't have all afternoon!" The girl doubled upon arriving at his side before elbowing him on the ribcage. "Baka itoko. Is that how you treat a _lady?_" Sakura asked, slyly. The boy scratched the back of his head with an annoyed gaze at the shorter person. "Really? And you're telling me you're a _lady_, huh? Come on Sakura, we all know you're a tomboy." He said and placed his hand on her head. "Hai, hai." She said in annoyance. They rounded a corner, heading to none other than the Kurosaki hospital. Their home.

"Ichigo! Why are you late?" Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father asked upon crashing into his son with a _killing _intent. Sakura rolled her eyes at her uncle's idiocy, this was where Karin and her Karin were similar at. "Ru-chan, Ichi, dinner will be ready in a while." Yuzu said in an exasperated tone. "Alright, Yuzu." Both said in reply. They went to their respective rooms and got themselves dressed in their house clothes before returning to the dining room to receive dinner. It was like any usual dinner. Isshin and Ichigo's casual blabbers and Karin and Sakura's annoyed gaze at their superior.

The next day after the school's dismissal bell rung, the two cousins darted out of their classroom to head home early. 'School was a pain today and not to mention the amount of homework.' Sakura complained. Despite being the top 2 of their batch, Sakura also had a laid back attitude towards school. "Neh, Ichi, let's drop by the convenience store. I need to buy some thing." Sakura said. He glanced down at her and replies, "All right." The two were walking peacefully on the sidewalk when something exploded a few meters away from them. The surrounding people began to run away from the site. Sakura remembered, 'The news reported that there were explosions happening.' The ghost of the girl from their neighborhood appeared and hid herself behind Ichigo. Sakura was not appalled by the ghost. She had seen ghosts ever since her early childhood years. The explosions reached to the building beside the two and smoke clouded the area. As soon as the smoke dispersed, a huge monster came upon their gaze. Sakura froze in fear as a blurred memory overcame her senses. It was blurred the events were vague. As soon as the monster took a step forward it gave its gaze on Ichigo. It let out a loud bellow before it was overcame by, "I can feel your reiatsu, boy. I think I'll eat you first then I 'll have this girl beside you." The monster looked from Ichigo to Sakura who showed an annoyed glare shot on the beast. Just as it was about to get Ichigo it was bombarded by a sword and in front of the two junior high school students was a petite girl in black shihakou with a thin katana blocking the monster's fist. "Sh-Shinigami?!" the monsters deep voice questioned by the girl gave out a reply and just jump on the monster's back before impaling it's head with her sword. No sooner the monster dispersed and the girl was gone. Sakura suddenly remembered something.

It was night already when they had arrived and it was a few minutes past seven. They both got a _ridiculous_ sermon from their ascendant. Then they proceeded to their dinner which Yuzu had left for them. No sooner the cousins headed to their respective rooms to rest and to do their casual homework. After the huge amount of assignments, it had taken Sakura a piece of lengthy time and she fell on her bed with exhaustion taking every fiber of her. Although she knew exhaustion had clung to her body like it was fastened with super glue, she couldn't help but feel like something wrong was going to happen. She was about to close her eyes when she heard a huge explosion downstairs. Immediately her eyes shot open as two screams filled the air, "Karin! Yuzu!"

She burst out her door and ran down the steps seeing Ichigo who was on his knees, struggling and the same shinigami girl she had seen earlier. "Y-You!" Sakura said and the shinigami turned to face the voice. "Ichi!" Sakura kneeled beside Ichigo but he reprimanded, "Sakura! Get out of here!" Sakura was pushed back as a strong force was emitted from Ichigo's body sending her to a nearby wall. Her head hit hard on the cream colored boundary. She slid onto the floor and she rubbed her head as pain shot through her body. "Itai…" she muttered as her face scrunched in pain. She saw a monster outside, holding Karin by the collar of her clothes. She instantly shot up and ran towards the beast. Seeing the girl the shinigami casted, "Destruction Arts #1: Restrain!" Sakura felt her body being held by a strong force. She tried her best to struggle herself from the strong force. She saw Ichigo run out, she stopped. 'Had he just released himself?!?!' she thought and struggled even more. After a while, she was losing hope. She was already tired but she couldn't let everyone get hurt. No she can't. She just wouldn't let it. With this driving force, Sakura was able to break free from the demon magic. Amazed at her success she looked at her hands, did she really do this? Brushing the thought aside, she sprinted to the exterior of the house to find the shinigami sitting at a sidewalk wall, bleeding. She spotted Karin and quickly she approached the girl. "Good, she'd just out cold." She looked at the monster. Her eyes widened, 'Am I dreaming or is Ichigo wearing the same clothes the Shinigami did?' She picked up Karin and placed her on the couch before walking back outside. Ichigo had did the final blow and the monster was already dispersing. Sakura approached her cousin and they looked to the place where the shinigami laid but she was gone. 'She disappeared again…'


	2. Chapter 2

It was school again and the cousins dragged themselves to their education after a long night. The scenes kept on playing in her mind but it was short lived as a hand grasped on her shoulder. She looked behind and saw Ichigo grasping her shoulder. He pointed something in front of them and her gaze went to look. The pedestrian sign was still red. 'Close call.' Sakura thought. "What were you thinking again, Sakura? It almost cost you your life." He scolded her. She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest but her gaze softened as the sign turned green. "Last night…" she muttered. He looked at her and sighed, "Just forget it, okay?" he patted her head with his hand. She smiled and nudged her elbow on his abdomen, "Last one is a rotten egg!"

Sakura walked into the classroom and settled her school bag onto her seat. "Sakura-chan!" a familiar voice resounded to her ears and she was met by a girl with long orange hair and blue eyes. "Orihime-san." Sakura gave a small smile at the girl before she was hugged. "Ah!!! Sakura-chan!!!! Kawaiiiiiiii!" the sharp shrill of a familiar girl hurt Sakura's ears. "Ah, Chizuru-san!" Sakura was trying her hard to unwind herself from Chizuru's grasp and she succeeded soon after. Ichigo just sighed. Just then a new voice broke the common atmosphere, "Ohayo, minna!"

Sakura looked at the owner of the voice as she was cornered at a wall. "Y-You!" she pointed at the person and Ichigo was doing the same. "You know her, Ichigo?!?!" Asano cried in disbelief. "Y-You're that…" "No I just met him today. I'm Kuchiki Rukia. Nice to meet you all!" she said in a very cheery tone. Everybody near her introduce themselves, she leaned on the wall with a bored gaze on her face. Rukia noticed Sakura and she pointed at Sakura's direction. Orihime turned her gaze and said, "That's Shiroyuki Sakura. She's Kurosaki-kun's cousin. She's really a fun person but she admitted she was a tomboy." Sakura sighed, 'Orihime-san, you're giving too much information to somebody you just met.' Sakura pushed herself from the wall and offered Rukia a handshake, "Nice to meet you." Rukia took the offer and both shook their hands. "Nice to meet you, too."

It was strange but Rukia could feel a difference with this _Sakura_. She and Ichigo almost had a different resonance from normal humans but something about Sakura made her different from Ichigo as well. 'What could it be?'Rukia thought as she released her grasp on Sakura's hand. Rukia looked up at Sakura's emotionless face, the brownish gray-haired girl was taller than her. Rukia was four feet and eight inches tall wherein Sakura stood five feet and two and a half inches from the white tiles of the classroom floor.

Class started as always and it seemed to pass by so slow. Sakura focused her gaze outside the window. It was spring and cherry blossoms were in full bloom. She just couldn't help imagining herself seated under the boughs of pink flowers. She was suddenly brought to reality by the sound of the school bell resounding through her ears. A ghost pf a smile played along her lips, "Dismissal…"

She walked to look for her cousin but found Ichigo nowhere. She walked towards home alone just as she was passing by the park, her mind wandered to her missing memories. She couldn't pieces up to their right places anymore. Everything almost felt like it was just a play and she was one of the actors. No, she couldn't be. This is her life. Reality. Not a play. Not a puppet who's moving as the puppeteer pulls her strings. But she couldn't help, was it all just a dream? Was she really alive or had she died long ago?

She reached home later than Ichigo. "Sakura, where have you been?" her uncle asked in a serious voice. "I just made some papers. That's the reason why I'm late. Sorry for making you worry." She lied. Her uncle sghed, "Even if you're a black belter, girls your age shouldn't home nor go out this time. I'm just worried." He placed his hand over her head in a loving manner. "Hai, otousan…"Sakura smiled and went upstairs. Isshin just stood there and a smile made its way to his lips. "Sakura, if only you knew…"

Ichigo exited his room to find Sakura just about to enter her room. "Where have you been?!" he asked her. "I just made some paperwork." She lied. "Yeah, right. I know there wasn't any paperwork today, Sakura. Where have you been?!?" He shook her shoulders. Sakura looked down onto the shiny wooden floor, "I was looking for you, baka but I couldn't find you and I went to take a break along the way. I can't help but get curious at my past." He sighed and let her go, "I understand but…" He smacked her head and a lump grew above her brownish gray locks, "Itai!!!!" "You should've waited in the classroom." He said and smiled at her when she stuck her tongue out at him. She smiled and entered her room to do her casual evening chores.

Sakura sat behind ichigo as they both relaxed in his room. Ichigo was used to this kind of days; they also hung out with each other. Almost everyone would even think they were siblings and some even commented some similarities of their features. Sakura looked at Ichigo and smiled. 'It was nice to have you as a cousin.' Sakura was about to fall asleep when…

"Ichigo! There's a hollow nearby!" Rukia's voice shocked the two. Sakura was surprised but her eyes only showed it. Ichigo and Rukia proceeded to quarrel and Sakura watched them both from the sidelines. They stopped abruptly upon realizing a third person in the room. Both coughed in embarrassment and Rukia took out a glove. It was red with a weird skull desing and on the upper part of the skull was some blue fire. She pushed it on Ichigo's chest and Ichigo's shinigami form came out of his body. She just looked at it with boredom. Not that she was shocked nor unexpecting it anyways. The two jumped out of the window. She looked around the room before she too jumped down and followed suit.

She reached the Kurakars town's playground guided by the noise the beast roared. There she saw Kuchiki Rukia along with her cousin in the same Shinigami attire she saw last night. They were trying to save the spirit of a boy that was chased by another one of those huge beasts from which she saw yesterday. She hid behind some bushes and watched at the scene. Ichigo was holding himself and the two seemed to be talking. Sakura couldn't make out the words. Just as the two head to exit, she bombarded their path. "Mind explaining me some details, Rukia-san?" she said and the petite girl nodded her head in reponse, "Ha-hai."

Rukia gawked at her for a while and a thought popped into her mind, 'Don't the two of them share a small hint of resemblance amongst each other?'


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Omniscient **

The three headed towards the house and they jumped to the window, Sakura rode on Ichigo's back to do so. Rukia slips into Ichigo's closet and Sakura walks into her room. She turns the light off before she carelessly falls onto her bed, sleep overtaking her senses. Another dreamless sleep.

Sakura felt like a ton of bricks were placed on topped of her body. She felt weak. She stood up but fell to the floor. She looked up and found Ichigo at the door. Ichigo rushed to Sakura's side. "Daijobu?" he asked and helped her stand. "Don't worry, I'm fine." She replied as she settled herself on her bed covers. He furrowed his brows and placed his hand over her forehead. He frowned and pushed her down on to her bed. Sakura sat up straight and cried, "What did you do that for?" He just shook his head in exasperation, "Come on you dope. You have a fever." She looked at him with disbelief crossing about her eyes. "Yeah, like my health would go that weak." He sighed and said in surrender, "Don't tell me I didn't tell you." He went out and she proceeded to do her morning chores.

"Ru-chan, you look different today." Yuzu said with a concerned look on her face. Sakura smiled at her, "Yuzu-chan, I'm fine, just a little stress the past few days." Karin looked at her with her passive face but her eyes showed concern as well. Isshin looked from Ichigo to Sakura and he placed his hand on her forehead. He withdrew his hand as it was swollen and red. "Sakura-chan! You have a fever!" he screeched. "Nah. It's nothing really, uncle. It'll be gone as the day passes by. Don't worry." She assured them. After eating breakfast, the two walked out of the house when nobody was around, Rukia jumped down from Ichigo's window. "Ohayo, Rukia-san." Sakura greeted in a emotionless but faint voice. "Ohayo Ichigo, Sakura." He nodded her head and the three walk towards school.

"Ohayo Ichigo! Sakura! Rukia!" the annoying voice of Asano Keigo greeted them as they arrived. Sakura immediately sunk down on her seat and Tatsuki made her way towards Sakura. "Daijobu desu ka, Sakura?" she asked. "Daijobu." Sakura said in a faint voice. Tatsuki cocked her eyebrow at Sakura's weak form and was about to say something when. "Orihime!!!" Chizuru's voice interrupted her and she dashed off to Orihime's rescue from Chizuru's harassment. Sakura plopped her head on her arms and gazed out lazily to the sky outside the clear glass windows. "You don't look too well, Shiroyuki-san." A familiar masculine voice said. "Ishida, I'm fine don't fret on it." She said and sat up straight. It was very awkward for Sakura to act like this.

The day passed by quite slow and it was a pain. Sakura felt weak the whole day and as it progressed, she felt weaker. It's as if something is sucking her life force away. She stood from her desk with her bag in hand; she slowly made her way out of the classroom. She held onto the wall for support. She didn't even look for Ichigo, all she cared was to get some rest. Exhaustion took over her senses but she wouldn't let her body fall.

A smile crept on her lips when the familiar Kurosaki hospital met her eyes and she couldn't help but fall onto the floor when she saw her uncle. He looked at her with concern on his eyes. It was as if he knew what happened to her and why she was acting like this. As soon as she fell onto the cold ground, the darkness took over her.

Sakura woke up to find herself in the confines of her room in the Kurosaki household. She slowly sat up straight and looked around her room. Late afternoon sunlight bathe the teenager's room and her door opened revealing Yuzu. She looked at Sakura and ran to her with tears brimming her eyes. "Ru-chan! Ru-chan! I was so worried." Yuzu sobbed and Sakura hugged her cousin and soothed her. "It's okay Yuzu. I'm fine now." After a while the child stopped sobbing and she asked, "Yuzu-chan, how long was I out?" Yuzu wiped the few tears and looked up at Sakura's beautiful cerulean blue eyes. "You were asleep for two whole days. And tomorrow is…" she grew silent and Sakura turned to the calendar on her door. June 17. The day her family died and the day their mother died. It was sad really. Yuzu went out to bring Sakura food to eat and she sat down on her study table. 'Tomorrow, kaa-san, tou-san and aniki died leaving me to live as an orphan…It's not their fault but…' she thought and a tear slid down her cheek.

_But now I'm all alone…_

The four went to the graveyard where their love ones were buried. Ichigo tried to act indifferent. Sakura seemed different just like the usual times they would visit. She would always show a sober face, a face she hardly showed to anyone in public. It really affected her, the loss of her family and not even able to remember how they died but only having blurry and fuzzy memories of her past. What could have caused her amnesia?

As usual they did the usual routines and they offered prayers for their love ones. Sakura spent silent moments in front of her family. She meditated as a zephyr passed by. It played with her grayish brown hair and her cerulean blue eyes mingled upon the gray cement pavement of her deceased loved ones' gravestones. She clasped her hands in prayer and prayed for their souls. After a while, it was dusk and Sakura settled beside Rukia watching the distant sun. The short time they had spent made them understand each other; they discovered they had some similar likes. Sakura felt like Rukia was like a sister. They shared a bond similar to that amongst sisters.

As soon as the night conquered the sky, Sakura's eyes widened and Rukia's did as well. A single word came out of their mouths as a familiar cry broke the peaceful silence of the night sky, "Hollow." Rukia took out her glove and both her and Sakura stood up to find Ichigo. Sakura was about to rush to Ichigo but she sensed that her younger cousins were in trouble. "Rukia-chan, you go ahead. I'll check on Yuzu and Karin." Rukia nods her way and Sakura runs towards the twins. There she stood frozen as an enormous monster took hold of Karin. "Karin!" She spotted Yuzu unconscious at a corner. Sakura kicked the hollow's side and to her surprise it flew a few feet away from where it used to stand.

The hollow released its death grip on Karin and focused it's attention on Sakura. "You ruined my mood but I think you're worth eating than this girl." He let out a laugh and licked his gruesome lips. Sakura backed away a bit from the hollow. "Kukuku, you've got a bigger amount of reiatsu and more importantly, you're a maturing girl. I think you'll be tastier than this girl." Sakura backed away a little as her gaze never left the hollow. She bit her lip in tension. The hollow swiftly brought down it's huge hand upon Sakura but she evaded it with ease. She rolled to her side as the hollow had its back towards her. She kicked its behind and it let out a ferocious growl. "So you want to play it rough don't you girl?" it bellowed and quickly swiped Sakura. She tried to dodge it but she was taken by surprise. 'Damn' she thought. The hollow squeezed her in his grasp receiving a scream of pain from the girl. Sakura struggled to release herself from the monstrous grasp around her body. She tried kicking at the hollows fingers by they were of no avail. The hollow squeezed her yet again, a reward for her useless efforts. She was about to pass out of the pain when she heard a voice.

_Call my name…_

Who are you?

_You haven't heard it haven't you?_

Who are you? How do you know me?

_You have to wake up, Sakura._

But I am awake.

_No. Wake up the powers hidden inside you._

Powers…

Sakura felt herself being enveloped in a warm pink aura. She felt safe, energy coursed through her body and somehow the darkness was taking over her. The hollow's eyes widened and his grip on her already frail body tightened even more. Before the darkness took over her completely, she saw the familiar orange hair of her cousin.

_Ichi…_


	4. Chapter 4

NOTE: Sorry I updated so long, I went to the province for my Dad's burial.

Chapter 4: Zanpakuto

Upon regaining consciousness, Sakura found herself laid upon a white futon. A cold compress on her forehead which was wrapped in bandages, she looked to her side to see a worried Yuzu. "Ru-chan." Yuzu's eyes began to well up with tears and she immediately hugged Sakura, "Ru-chan, I was so worried about you!" Sakura couldn't help but smile and return the hug. She rubbed her cousin's back in a comforting manner. Finally when Yuzu's sobs were gone she looked at her cousin, a smile plastered on her face as she patted on the young girls head. "Don't cry anymore okay, Yuzu-chan?" The young girl nods her head. Sakura stands up and slowly walks out of the house, it was still night and the stars hung luminously in the sky. She found her uncle and Ichigo, which she actually knew was that Mod Soul. She sat beside the orange head, "It's a nice night, right Ichi?" The Mod Soul hesitates a bit before replying, "Yeah." You sit closer to him and whisper into his ear, "What was your name again?" He fell to his side before whispering back, "It's Kon-sama!" You gave a look and whisper back, Yeah right, Kon-_sama_." You stood up from your place and look at your uncle, "Uncle, I'm going to take a walk for a bit." Isshin nodded his head in reply and Sakura made her way towards the graves. It was solemn but she could hear the sounds of Ichigo's cries and the maniacal laughter of the hollow. She dashed off into the origin of the voices and hides behind a tree. She spotted Rukia with a Shinigami, she headed towards the two. "Sakura! Are you all right?!" Sakura gives her a nod and the hollow suddenly looks at her direction. "So the girl is back." He bellowed. Ichigo looks at you with wide eyes, "Sakura! Get out of here." She could feel it's red eyes almost bore into her soul. She didn't flinch under it's scary gaze. Rukia backed away from Sakura a bit as a strange reiatsu engulfed her body. 'She's still in her body but she can already let out reiatsu and what's more is that she has this much reiatsu!' Rukia thought as she looked at Ichigo's cousin. Sakura felt herself drown into the power that had awakened inside of her.

A sword manifested itself in Sakura's right hand and her brownish gray bangs seemed to cover her eyes. A grin made itself on her lips as the girl looked up at the hollow. Rukia's eyes widened upon seing bloodthirsty blood red instead of calm cerulean eyes. She was about to run towards Sakura when the Shinigami pulled her wrist and shook his head. "It's dangerous." he muttered and all Rukia could do was look back at you with concerned eyes. 'Sakura, what really are you?' She thought. Sakura's blood red eyes lingered from the blade of the sword then to Ichigo's shocked expression. "Sa-Sakura, why do you have a-" He was cut off, "zanpakuto." Rukia continued. The girl gave no reply and without any second thoughts the hollow was behind Sakura. "Kukuku, poor little girl. I;m gonna eat you now. Kukuku," the hollow, Grand Fisher, laughed. A cruel grin came upon Sakura's pale lips as she cut off the hollow's right forearm with a quick slash of her zanpakuto. The hollow let out a painful cry as it grab hold of it's bleeding arm. "You foolish girl!" It shot its hand towards Sakura but Ichigo's sword defended her. "Sakura, get back!" As if snapping out of a trance, Sakura jerks her head up and looks at Ichigo, nodding. She runs to Rukia's side as Ichigo continued to fight the hollow. "How did you do it, Sakura?" Sakura looked ar her with a puzzled gaze. "Do what, Rukia?" she asked. The shinigami beside Rukia sighed and she inclined closer to him, "I think that wasn't her doing. There must have been something that might have triggered what happened to her." Rukia nodded in accordance and looked in front of her to see Ichigo still fighting the hollow.

Sakura raised her pale hand to her eyes, examining the details of her plam. 'What was that strange power? It had such,' She looked at the night sky, 'a murderous intent.'

_Wake me up inside you so we can…_

_Kill everything that is hurting you…_

_Please send some reviews._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Menos Grande

Sakura groggily woke up when rays of broad sunlight hit her eyes. She slowly sat up straight and stretched her arms over her head. Thursday. She sighed and fell back on the bed as she felt she had to energy to muster for school. Being the president of such a troublesome class, you would to. She finally stood up from her bed and did her usual morning chores. As she was fixing the ribbon of her uniform, she looked at the mirror. Her eyes widened to what she saw. Her right eye was a blood red not the usual cerulean blue. She blinked and it was gone, "Must be my imagination." She sighed and wet her face with a handful of water. After drying her face with water, she fixed her hair. After a few minutes and seeing that everything was all right, she went down to the dining room to eat her usual breakfast with her family.

"Good morning, Ru-chan!" Yuzu's cheerful voice came upon her ears upon descending the wooden stairs of the house. The casual early morning insults of Ichigo and Isshin\s idiotic blabbers could be heard in the background. Karin sighed as the father and son continued on their daily quarrels and petty fight. "morning Sakura-neechan." She Ssmiled when Sakura took a seat on the dining table. "Ichigo! I understand that you're a growing man." Isshin stated. 'Yeah, as if you knew.' Ichigo thought as he dodged one of his father's kicks. "Ichi! Dad! The food is gonna be cold!" The two merely ignored Yuzu's cry. Sakura sighed as she sipped on her glass of orange juice, "These two never change…"

"Morning Ichigo, Sakura." Rukia greeted when she saw the two figures approach her. The three walked towards school. As usual Rukia and Ichigo did their daily quarrels. Sakura secretly smiled at the two. They _are_ a cute couple and somehow Sakura also envied the two. Despite being a boyish person, she was still a girl, a hopeless romantic to be exact. She also hoped that somehow in the coming time, her own romance would arrive. It was another one of those hopeless dreams she had for herself. Dreams where princes would sweep young girls like her off their feet. She sighed and no sooner she found herself in front of the school gates. She adjusted her bag and proceeded towards her classroom.

"Mornin' Sakura!" Asano cried as he saw the entering figure of the girl. Sakura gave a curt nod and she proceeded to her seat. She put down her bag and took out a novel. Just as she was about to start reading, Ishida cast glances on her and Ichigo. When he met her gaze, he immediately went back to his book and Sakura did to hers as well.

The day went by fast and the three were heading towards home when Ishida blocked their path. He had a stern face and he focused his gaze on Ichigo. Sakura shifted her gaze from Ishida to Ichigo. "Kurosaki Ichigo, you're a shinigami, aren't you?" Ishida stated and the two were shocked. 'How could he possibly know?!' Sakura thought. As if he read her thought, a smirk plastered itself on his face. So suddenly awhite threads surrounded himself when he emitted a white light, "You shouldn't be surprised seeing this, Kurosaki, after all you _are_ a shinigami." Ishida stated. Rukia looked at Ichigo, 'Shinigamis can see spirit threads.' He stepped closer to Ichigo and reached out to the threads that noe surrounded the two of them. There in his hand was a certain red spirit thread, "Shinigamis have a different color for their spirit thread. Surely, you should've known that." Ishida mocked. He released the spirit thread and walked forward before uttering, "Let's have a contest. The one who kills the most number of hollows wins." Ichigo's eye widened and reprimanded, "There aren't that many hollows." Just then Ishida took out a coin and said, "I'll use this. It's a hollow bait that we Quincy's use." "Q-quincy?!" Rukia muttered and Sakura's attention was focused on Rukia. "Rukia, What's a quincy?" Sakura questioned the former shinigami. "It's a long story…" Rukia replied.

Sakura looked at Ishida and he said, "So what do you say, Kurosaki?" Ichigo gritted his teeth and replied, "Your gonna put innocent lives in danger!" "I don't care about those lives. What I want is to prove that I, the last Quincy, am able to save more people than you shinigamis." He said. Ichigo finding no way to back down his challenge looked at Rukia and she looked at him and she took out her spirit glove. Rukia pressed the glove on Ichigo's chest and his shinigami form was separated from his gigai. Sakura helped Rukia carry Ichigo's lifeless body. Ishida with no further ado broke the coin and the sky turned dark and hollows emerged from black portals. Ichigo smirked and replied, "Fine, I'll play this little game of yours." And with that their little game started.

Sakura ran to where the huge hollow stood, in Karakura park. When she arrived, she was a mere speck in the eyes of the hollow. She felt like any minute she could be obliterated by it's gaze. She looked around and found Ichigo and Ishida trying to fend off the huge hollow. She was about to run towards them but a firm grip on her wrist made her stay in her place. She looked to the firm grip of the hand then to the man that stood with a grin plastered on his face. He was a blonde and his brown eyes were cascaded with shadow by his weird hat. He wore traditional Japanese clothes but that didn't make her stare at him but the grin the kept itself on his lips. "Don't go to them. You'll just be a _nuisance_ to them and get yourself killed. Just let them take care of it." Sakura calmed down and the man released his grip on her wrist. "What is that thing?! It doesn't look like an ordinary hollow." She said. "That's a Menos Grande, my dear. It\s a hollow which was born by the combination of a thousand hollows." The man replied. She stared back at him with wide eyes, "A thousand hollows?!" The man looked at her and nodded his head. Sakura calmed her tensed mind and asked, "Who are you and how do you know all this?" "I'm Urahara Kisuke and let's just say I have my sources." The man, Urahara, replied. As Sakura continued to watch her cousin and her close friend fight the humongous hollow, a flashback ran through her mind.

_A young girl stood in front of a silent house. It wasn't abandoned but the atmosphere around it gave such feeling. She stood in front of the wooden panel door of the old-style house; an innocent smile crept over her lips as she slowly slid the panel and went inside. She was no older than six years old and she merely stood at about two feet from the ground. She closed the door and slipped her small feet from her baby blue school shoes. She let a wide grin spread across her small lips as she ran towards the kitchen to greet her mother. Upon reaching there, she only met another share of silence and there was a puddle of blood behind the counter. She ran behind it but she found the bleeding body of her father. She quickly ran to the body and shook it with all her might but her efforts were in vain as the body never gave a movement in reply. Tears poured down the child's beautiful and innocent blue eyes as she proceeded to another room in the house. She was about to head upstairs when she heard a panel door being moved aside, by which was the living room door. She ran towards the said chamber, her small feet shuffling over the wooden floor. There she saw her mother and her older brother and in front of them was a huge monster. The young boy found her with his gaze and called out,_

"_----------! Run! Get out of here ---------!"_

_But her body stay firm on the ground as she witness the monster slashed her older brother from behind. More blood painted the cream floor as her mother was followed thereafter. Then the monster focused its menacing red eyes on her small form. More tears welled up from her eyes as the monster took huge steps towards her. She could do nothing but stare at it with eyes full of fear. It let its hand reach her but before it swiped her small frail body, something beat it. She felt herself cradled by strong arms and when she looked up, she saw a man. He had long raven black hair and his eyes were cold and of a dark shade of blue. He gently set her down on the floor and drew out a katana. With a blink of the eye, the monster was now dissipating in front of her eyes. She looked up at the man and without any other thoughts, ran out of the house. Fleeing herself in what she thought was danger._

Sakura felt nauseated from the flashback and she fell to her knees. A wave of pain ran through her head. She clutched it with both her hands as more waves of immense pain ran through her. She began to pant and all her surroundings went blurry. She felt herself falling to the ground and darkness began to consume her. Before the darkness took over her, she heard a familiar cry, "Sakura!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Farewell, Rukia

Sakura woke up to find herself back in her room. She rubbed her temples and sighed, "Just a dream…" But when she sat up, a wave of pain ran through her body and she fell back down on the pillow she slept on. The door opened, revealing Yuzu who was bringing a tray of food. "Ohayo, Ru-chan." Yuzu greeted and Sakura returned the greeting, "How are you feeling?" Sakura looked at her before looking at her hands, "I'm all right, Yuzu." Yuzu sat on Sakura's bed and she pouted, "Don't keep on saying 'I'm okay' when you're not, Ru-oneechan." Sakura smiled and slowly sat up straight. "Ichi-nii said you had another flashback…" Yuzu said in a sad tone and a frown made known. Sakura patted Yuzu's head and said, "I'm all right now, Yuzu-chan and the flashback was vague." Her head bolted up to gaze Sakura's face, "But Ru-oneechan, you get weak when you get flashbacks! You're in pain, oneechan!" Sakura pulled Yuzu in a gentle embrace and Yuzu began to sob on her shirt. "I'm okay. Thank you for thinking of me, Yuzu-chan."

It was now noon and Sakura sat on the dining table, she was alone. The three were at school and her Uncle Isshin had gone off to some place she didn't know. As usual, she had to stay home. She hated flashbacks. It wasn't because she had a sad past but because after receiving them her body would also receive a great amount of pain. She never knew as to why this happens, even her Uncle, who was a doctor, couldn't explain why. She wore a loose plain black cotton long sleeve shirt and khaki shorts. Her eyes skimmed through words, her face buried in the text of her novel, The Alchemist. She was after all a bookworm. It wasn't till one stroke that she finally placed her book down and paused her reading. She felt she needed some fresh air.

She sat on a nearby bench when she entered the park, it was tranquil and she felt she needed the fresh air and tranquility to clear her mind of the past events. Her cerulean blue eyes fixated itself on the blue sky that covered the atmosphere above her. She remembered clearly how the sky was seemingly torn apart by the darkness and a huge hollow had emerged which was the Menos Grande she saw the other day. She sighed and slumped on the wooden frame of the bench as questions began to run in her head. She couldn't help but be curious to the answers of these questions. But what troubled her the most was the flashback she had received from yesterday. 'Who could be that man? Was the killer of my family a hollow?' she looked up at the sky and thought, 'Was that girl me?'

Sakura stepped into the house two hours after her departure. It was how she left it, silent and still. No life moved aside from her who was no sitting at her casual spot on the dining table. She plopped her head over her forearms as more questions barricaded her mind. Sakura let out a sigh before she let her eyes flutter close and sleep embraced her senses.

_A young girl ran from the old fashioned house. Her school uniform stained with blood and dirt. Her face scratched and tears mercilessly poured down her eyes as she tried to escape __**danger**__. She had just seen her mother and brother murdered in front of her own blue eyes. She couldn't calm herself. She couldn't reassure if everything was just an illusion. She tried to run away. Away from the danger. Away from the fear. Away from the truth. But when she fixed her teary eyes towards her path, she abruptly stumbled on her steps. More monsters stood in front of her, their eyes boring into her soul. She sob as she felt the pain and saw the blood from her scrapped knee. The monsters closed in on her and she could only sob in her helplessness. They cried the same name towards her._

"_**Tenko…give us your power"**_

"_**Tenko, give us immortality!"**_

"_**Tenko! Tenko!"**_

_The young girl hugged herself as the monsters were mere inches from her but before they could harm a strand of her hair. A tower of red aura threw the monsters away and the young child stood in the center of the energy. Despite her form, a bloodthirsty intent could be felt from her. Her brown bangs cascaded through her eyes and when she lifted her small head, she revealed a pair of blood red eyes. Soon after the red aura faded and the child fell to her knees, unconscious. _

"Sakura." A male gruff voice spoke and she felt herself being shaken. She let her eyes flutter open and she saw the familiar voice of her cousin. "Ichigo, what time is it?" The orange haired teen looked at the red wall clock which showed 4:30 in the afternoon. Sakura groggily sat up and rubbed the drowsiness off her eyes. "You know, you were sleeping like a baby." Ichigo teased. Sakura frowned and replied, "I was not!" Ichigo just patted her on the head, "You looked like you were dreaming." Sakura pushed his hand off her head and rubbed her temples, "Sadly, I can't remember the dream." She told him. "Don't worry. Go wash your face, you look bushed." He teased once again. "I do not." She glared daggers at Ichigo and proceeded to her room to wash her face. She cupped some water from the basin and splashes it unto her face. She let the water drip off her face before she wiped her face with a towel. She heard muffled cries near the toilet, when she approached the toilet the cries were louder. She peered behind the toilet and found Kon taped to the base. Sakura immediately released Kon and she darted to Ichigo's room. Ichigo came in with a tray of food in his hands. "Oh Sakura, what are you doing here?" He settled the tray of food onto his study table, "Rukia! I brought you dinner." He opened the closet to find it empty. "Sakura, have you seen Rukia?" Sakura gave Ichigo a blank face, "I just came in the room. Maybe she went somewhere but before that I found Kon here taped onto the toilet."Sakura gestured to Kon who was struggling to remove the tape on his mouth. Ichigo took the tape off of Kon's mouth without a second thought. "Ouch that hurt!"Kon whined and his breath was foul. Sakura and Ichigo had to cover their noses to avoid inhaling the odor. Ichigo sprayed something on Kon's face and Sakura giggled at her cousin. "Ichigo! Oneesan's in trouble!" Kon spat out. The two were shocked to what Kon said. "Kon, what happened to Rukia?!" Ichigo cried as he shook the stuff toy body. "Oneesan's in danger, Ichigo!"Kon cried, "Oneesan even left a letter for you." Kon pointed his paw to Ichigo's study table where a white envelope lay. Ichigo released Kon and the stuff toy fell down onto the floor. He made his way to the envelope and hastily opened it. He read through the contents but his face showed one that indicated confusion. "Let me see." Sakura said and took the paper from Ichigo's grasp. "You need to get a certain character from each word!" she said triumphantly.

After decoding the letter, both Ichigo and Sakura read Rukia's letter. The two relatives' eyes widened at the contents of the paoer. "Ichigo!" Sakura said. "I know," he was trying to get the gikon from the stuff toy which was Kon's current body. After a lot of struggling, Ichigo took out the gikon and plopped it into his mouth. Ichigo's shinigami form emerged from the gigai and Kon now controlled Ichigo's human body. "Sakura, stay here." Ichigo told her. "No, I save to help Rukia!" The orange haired teen looked at his cousin and found that her face was filled with determination. "Okay, just be careful." Ichigo jumped down from his window sill and waited for Sakura. She jumped down carefully and landed with grace. The two then sprinted to look for Rukia.

Sakura finally caught up to Ichigo, he was fighting a red-haired shinigami. She saw Rukia and a few feet from him was another shinigami. Before she ran towards Rukia, she spotted Ishida unconscious on the floor. She knelt down beside him and checked if he was till alive. 'He's still breathing,' Sakura looks up from Ishida to where her cousin was. He continued to fight the red haired shinigami. Her gaze then shifted to Rukia who also met her eyes and it widened even more. "Rukia! Are you all right?!" Sakura ran towards the girl. "Sakura, stop! Stay where you are!" Rukia said and the man near her gave a glance at Ichigo's cousin. Ichigo gave a glance at his cousin and so did the red haired shinigami but Sakura was stubborn and approached Rukia. "Rukia, are you all right?" Sakura held Rukia by her shoulders and gently shook the small frame of Rukia's body. Suddenly Sakura felt a strong power near and she turned to her side to see her cousin engulfed in blue aura. "Ichi…?"Sakura muttered. Ichigo fought the red haired shinigami and he seemed to be winning. Just when he was about to do the final strike but the blade of his zanpakuto was suddenly reduced. Sakura's eyes scanned the area and her gaze met the man that was a few feet away from her. The blade of Ichigo's zanpakuto was in the grasp man's right hand. The brown-haired girl's beautiful cerulean eyes widened at the speed of the man. Ichigo was looking at the same man she was looking. The man carelessly dropped the blade and disappeared from his place. By now the man was a few inches behind Ichigo and blood spattered from Ichigo's abdomen. "Nii-sama!" Rukia cried. Sakura just continued to stare at the scene with wide eyes, her eyes were glued while the man did the second attack. Now, Ichigo was on the floor he seemed unconscious and was bleeding. Sakura clenched her fists as he looked at the man with hatred burning in her eyes. Rukia was saving Ichigo and arguing with the two shinigamis. When their argument ceased, Sakura took up her guts and cried, "Omai!" the three focused their gaze to the young human girl. "You with the kenseiken." She smirked knowing the headpiece the man had worn. The man merely gave her a blank face. "Sakura! Stop!" Rukia pleaded but the man had taken steps towards the fifteen year old human. "You're gonna pay for hurting Ichi!" Sakura readied herself with a fighting stance by which she had learned from her years of martial arts training. The man merely graced his lips with a ghost of a smile. He disappeared from her gaze but Sakura knew well and ducked, she evaded herself from the man's slash. She was about to strike but he disappeared once again. This time Sakura rolled to her side. The man looked annoyed as to how a mere human girl like her could evade his attacks. "Kuchiki-taichou…"The red-haired shinigami muttered. "Sakura." Rukia murmured. The two were watching their fight. Sakura evaded most of the shinigami's attacks and she could never strike back again. The man known only as Kuchiki-taichou to Sakura seemed quite pissed off. So as to end the ridiculous excuse of a battle, Kuchiki-taichou unsheathed his sword. Rukia's eyes widened to what her nii-sama did. "Sakura! Run! Get out of here!" she cried and she was merely replied with a confuse gaze. "Rukia, what do you mean-"She wasn't able to finish her statement when she felt a wave of pain course through her body. She looked down towards her stomach a blade protruded. Blood dripped from the blade. Rain began to fall and the shinigami roughly withdrew his sword from the young girl's body. Blood trailed down Sakura's pale lips and she fell down to the cold, wet ground. She faced her cousin, 'I…chi…go…" Slowly her body numbed and the darkness took over. Before she was out cold, she met the shinigami's cold gaze. "Damn…" And with that, she fell into cold, dreamless slumber.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Power

Sakura felt her whole body in pain, her limbs felt like lead. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a room but it wasn't her room. She slowly sat up straight but immediately regretted it as a wave of pain hit her body. "Ah, you're awake." A deep voice penetrated the silence of the room and the paper door beside her opened to reveal a tall, mascular man who wore glasses. "It's good to see you finally woke up, Shiroyuki-san." His voice bellowed. "W-Who are you?" she stammered, pain still coursing through her. "Oh how rude of me. I am Tessai and I work here under Urahara Kisuke." The big man replied and Sakura finally sat up straight, "Urahara-san?" Tessai nodded and gave her a tray of food and some medicines which she guessed as painkillers.

"So Ichigo is undergoing training here."Sakura said when she and Tessai reached the 'basement' of Urahara's shop. The two reached a cliff and they witness Ichigo fighting a young girl but Ichigo wasn't in his shinigami robes. "Why isn't Ichigo in his shinigami robes?' Sakura asked Tessai. "Well, after his little encounter with those two shingamis, Kuchiki Byakuya severed his shinigami powers." Tessai explained as the two of them watched Ichigo struggle to fight the girl, "Now, Ichigo is training with Ururu, Jinta, me and the manager to regain his shinigami powers." Sakura was looking at Ichigo. How he tried to fight Ururu back. "Tessai-san, can I also become a shinigami?" Sakura asked. The man looked down towards the girl besid him, the fake sunlight reflected from his glasses. "It is possible, Shiroyuki-san." He responded as he looked back down at Ichigo's training. "Then Tessai-san, I want to become one." She told him and his eyes looked at the girl's eyes. He found determination and he saw her resolve. "I will tell manager on how to awaken your shinigami powers." The man replied, "but for now, we will let your wound heal."

It was now two days since Sakura last saw Ichigo and her wound was fully healed. "So, Shiroyuki-san, you want to be a shinigami." Came Urahara's jovial tone. "Yes, Urahara-san."Sakura said. He drew his fan and put it up his face, "Well, we should start your training now." She nodded and Urahar gestured her towards the basement. Sakura had undergone the same training Ichigo did. Now she was doing task number two. She tried hard to climb up the hole but it was futile, her limbs were restrained and her chain of fate was quickly diminishing. "Ne, Tomboy, get up here quick before you chain's final erosion." Jinta cried, he strucked a nerve. Sakura tried to climb the hole with her feet to get out of the hole and to beat Jinta for calling her such. Yet she only ended falling onto the dirt ground. Tessai was a few feet away from her, observing her. Finally, the erosion came and her chain of fate was mercilessly being eaten. Finally it was gone and the process of becoming a hollow was beginning. White liquid came out of her eyes and seemed to cover her face. She struggled and she wailed. 'Just like what happened to Ichigo.' Urahara thought. "Ne, manager, it's just like what happened to orange head." Jinta said. Urahara merely gave him a curt nod, his attention focused on Sakura. Tessai binded her with a more stronger restraint seal but it didn't stop Sakura. Suddenly there was an explosion and Sakura was no longer in the hole. A black light descended from the heaves and after it dispersed there stood a girl in shinigami clothes. A hollow mask covered her face, it was white like the usual hollow mask but red and black flecks situated themselves on cheeks of the mask. A pale hand took the mask off and revealed the blank expression of Sakura. "Well done, Shiroyuki-san." Urahara congratulated, "Now we move to task number three." Urahara pointed to her side and she looked down to see a sword. She unsheathed it and examined the silver blade. "You should know it's name." Urahara said and she looked at him as if he was crazy. Sakura sighed then closed her eyes, no sooner she found herself in a strange dimension. "So, you finally came." A girl's soft voice was heard. Sakura found a girl, she had long straight raven black hair and a pair of innocent crimson eyes, she wore old style clothes, a white silk kimono top and black hakamas. "A-are you…my sword?!" Sakura asked in half-belief. The girl smiled at her and nodded her head. "I've been calling out to you a lot of times but it seems that Kurosaki Ichigo's reiatsu keeps on blocking my calls." Sakura continued to stare at the physical form of her zanpakuto. "Sakura, you've finally seen me-"The girl walked nearer to her master, "My name is ----------." Sakura looked at the manifestation of her sword. She could not hear it's name, as if it was blocked by something. The raven-haired girl continued to stare at the girl in front of her. Sakura was slightly disturbed but she calmed herself and looked at the mysterious girl. "Sakura. Shiroyuki Sakura. Wield me." The girl chanted.

Sakura opened her eyes to meet Urahara Kisuke's scrutinizing gaze. Without further ado, the young female drew out her zanpakuto. Its silver blade reflected the sunlight that showered the wide barren field. "So you've spoken with your zanpakuto" Urahara said, "Tell me, what is its name, Shiroyuki-san?" Sakura let a smile graced her lips, "Ryuketsu…" Urahara smiled and drew a blade from his cane which was actually the scabbard, "This is the last task, Shiroyuki-san. You must get my hat off my head." Sakura's zanpakuto wasn't as braod as Ichigo's. It was rather slim with like any ordinary zapakutos. So suddenly Sakura was engulfed in a red reiatsu, her zanpakuto's blade turned blood red from silver. 'Her shikai…' Urahara thought as he watched the girl. Sakura disappeared from his gaze and his eyes widened yet again, 'She can already use shunpo..?!' Sakura appeared in front of Urahara, her eyes a blood red and she let out a long red vertical slash which materialized due to her reiatsu. Urahara jumped out of the way but his hat was blown off by the force. He sighed and picked up his hat, brushing the dust off as well. "Very good, Shiroyuki-san." Sakura feeling her energy drained fell to the floor out cold. Urahara smiled and picked her up, "You're quite a talent, Sakura."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: To Soul Society

Ichigo and Sakura stood in front of a gate in Kisuke Urahara's Basement. "Kurosaki-san! Sakura-chan!" a female voice cried out and the two looked at the origin of the voice. It was Orihime and along with her were Ishida and Chad. "Inoue! Ishida! Chad!" Ichigo cried out upon seeing them. "Orihime-chan, Ishida-san and Chad-san, what brought you here?" Sakura asked. "We're here to save Kuchiki-san too." Orihime replied. "Ishida and Chad too?" Ichigo asked. "Well, we have our reasons." Ishida replied and fixed his glasses. "Well, it seems his training has finally finished, Kisuke." The voice belonged to a black cat who approached the trio. Ichigo freaked out and Sakura just looked at the cat with a face filled with confusion. "T-That cat can talk?!" Ichigo pointed his right index finger at the said black cat. "That's okay Kurosaki-kun. Ishida and Chad were like that too." Orihime said. Ishida and Chad looked away from Orihime in embarrassment. "We will open the gate to soul society." Uruhara said as e and Tessai stood at the sides of the gate. The orange-haired girl ran to Sakura's side, "Shiroyuki-san, you're a shinigami, too."

Sakura looked at the cloudless sky with troubled eyes. She let her eyes closed for a while reminiscing a recent memory. _Ichigo transformed into his shinigami form and Sakura followed thereafter. Ichigo looked at his cousin with wide brown eyes. "Sakura since when did you become a shinigami?" He demanded as he shook her shoulders, "You're risking yourself1" Sakura felt sad but she shook the tears away. "Ichigo! I'm not that stupid girl who cries a lot anymore! I'm a young adult and I want to help save Rukia, too! I don't want to be always protected like I don't know how to fend for myself." Sakura balled her hands into fists and Ichigo was appalled by what she had just said. "Sakura, I'm sorry-" "It's okay, Ichi. I know you were just worried about me." Sakura replied and Ichigo smiled. He always liked how his cousin was so understanding. "Don't always think you're already so tough missy. Take care of yourself when we get there." He said. She looked away from him, "Yeah, yeah, oniichan."_ Sakura smiled at Ichigo, 'Sometimes I really wished he had just been my older brother'. Sakura shifted her gaze from Ichigo to the gate that would lead them to soul society. "Shiroyuki-san," Urahara said and this broke Sakura from her train of thought. "Yes, Urahara-san?" He bent his head down to her eye level and whispered something to her ear. Her cerulean eyes widened as Urahara straightened up and smiled down at her. She let her head bow down a bit and her mind raced on the words he spoke. A painful smack on the head disturbed her from her trail of thought and she looked at the cause. It was none other than her orange-haired, sulky cousin Ichigo. She frowned and was about to throw tantrums at him but saw that the group was ready to depart and that the others were watching at her. "All right everyone, good luck on your way to Soul Society." Tessai wished as he remained in his path, controlling the gate. "Yeah, we will." Ichigo muttered to him as he and the others stood in front of the gate, the talking cat, Yoruichi, in front of them. "Let's go!" was Ichigo's cry and they darted towards the gate, Sakura was behind him. Despite her body running, her mind was in turmoil. She couldn't take Urahara's words out of her head.

"_Shiroyuki-san, don't use too much of your power. Something bad might come out of it."_

Sakura looked at her companions as all of them ran towards the other end of their path. 'What does he mean by 'something bad might come out'?' Sakura thought. But she didn't let herself be drowned in her thoughts as she looked forward and cleared her mind. 'Let's just hope it won't be too bad.'


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Onwards to Seireitei

By now all of them were running away from a weird thing that was just a few feet away from them. Yoruichi the talking cat was explaining what it is but Sakura paid little attention to its words and focused on outrunning the object. So suddenly the object took hold of Ishida's cape and he was struggling to get free but his efforts were futile. Finally Chad released him from his struggling and carried him along the way. She sighed at the two but continued to run trying not to undergo Ishida's fate. She could now make out the other end of the tunnel-like path and now the walls beside them were collapsing. Now a different thing was catching up to them by which Yoruichi explained as the Capturinf Thrust. It was faster than the first thing that was after them. Seeing as their chance to escape was so thin, Sakura thought of a way to save all of them. Then finally she saw Orihime putting her hands upon her flower hair clips which were blue Hibiscus. "Kotenzansuru, I reject!" she said and an orange formed itself behind all of them. It hit the object which caused a huge explosion repelling them out of the way and into the bright end. When they came out, they were thrown onto the warm dusty earth and each of which were in peculiar landing positions, especially her cousin. Sakura sat up from her supine lying position and dusted her black robes from the earth. She stood up and brushed the dust off from the rest of her clothing. She looked at everyone and found Ishida pulling out from his polo another cape. She could feel a sweat drop from her brow as she looked at her friend. 'Ishida, you're really peculiar.' She thought.

As soon as everyone was settled, Sakura's inquisitive cerulean blue eyes scrutinized the area. It was like an old Japan, the houses stood just a few feet away from each other but the place looked like slums. It was barren she couldn't see any living soul asides themselves in the area. Yoruichi began to explain about the area and here she knew that the place they had landed was Rokungai and that the Shinigamis stayed in the Court of Pure Souls or Seireitei. Ichigo looked at another portion of the place, which Sakura's gaze followed suit. Indeed it was different, the ground was cemented and its infrastructure and walls differed from that of Rukongai. "What is that place over there?" Ichigo asked. "That place is-" The black feline darted it's head on what looked like a white city that stood out from the slums of houses. "I understand1 That's the place where the shinigamis live!" Ichigo without further ado ran towards the place and Yoruichi tried to stop him. Sakura ran after her cousin and the others followed suit. So suddenly tall walls came crashing down from the sky barely squashing Ichigo, after the dust was blown away, a huge man stood in front of the gate. "It's been quite a while since anyone tried to breach into Seireitei." The man bellowed. He was quite muscular with two enormous axes in both his grasp. Yoruichi by now was giving a brief description of the man in front of them. Sakura looked at Jidanbo with her casual cerulean blue eyes, 'He's huge…' Her left hand fell upon the hilt of her zanpakuto which situated itself on her waist and put in place by her obi. But what really caught her attention was not Jidanbo but the gate that stood behind him, "The White Way…" Yoruichi was about to ask Ichigo formulate a plan when it noticed that Chad, Orihime and Sakura were already running to help Ichigo. He cocked his thick brow upwards and the others tried to follow Ichigo but he drew his axe upon the ground and disarrayed the earth making a barrier around Ichigo and the latter. Jidanbo began to enumerate the rules he had but Sakura most especially remembered the third one, "When you duel, one at a time." Orihime gave an annoyed look and Chad told the two girls he had a plan but Ichigo, who was on the other side of the rocks, told them to stay. Ishida came running he didn't want to waste time but Ichigo told him the same. Sakura looked back at the towering rocks, 'Ichigo…'

Sakura could hear metal clashing against metal and rocks fell from every direction, their origin from Ichigo's and Jidanbo's battlefield. She bit the tip of her thumb, feeling a bit of nervousness towards the fight. Rocks continued to rain down from the other side. No sooner Jidanbo drew his axe into a horizontal attack and destroyed the upper portion of the rock barrier. His face showed a shocked expression and smoke and the remaining rocks gave way revealing Ichigo who by which was defending himself with his zannpakuto from Jidanbo's enormous axe. Jidanbo who was appalled for a while recovered sooner and took out another axe. This shocked everyone except Ichigo and his tomboy of a cousin, Sakura. 'So all those figting weren't put to waste.' She smirked as she saw Jidanbo doing an attack with his two axes. Ichigo gave out a counterattack. This pushed Jidanbo a few feet away and he fell on his back while his face expressed a flabbergasted expression. Even as Jidanbo sat up straight, his face still had a astonished expression. Recovering from his shock, Jidanbo jumped to his feet and told them excuses. But when he looked at his axes, he found they were no more blades and Yoruichi jumped onto one of the blades that had plunged itself on Rokungai's dusty earth. "So Jidanbo's axes broke apart just after one attack." The black feline concluded. Ishida was surprised and the giant gatekeeper was speechless for a while. Tears welled up in Jidanbo's eyes and no sooner he began to wail for his broken axes while punching the earth with the base of his axes' hilt. His wailing and activity seemed to bring an earthquake upon them. All of them felt stupid, seeing a full grown man sobbing over his broken axes. Ichigo went towards the defeated shinigami and comforted him with words. No sooner Jidanbo stood up, wiped his tears and told Ichigo how good hearted he was. He kept on blabbering until Sakura heard him say, "Enter." He gave them the permission to enter Seireitei. This got their utmost attention and Jidanbo told them that he should let them in after losing to their leader which he thought was Ichigo. At this Ishida gave a bit of resent since they never had Ichigo as the leader but only as a comrade. All of their faces brightened up, all except one, Sakura. She could feel a looming presence on the other side of the gate. Jidanbo droved his fingers underneath the gate and ever so slowly raised the gate with his Herculean strength and little by little it lifted. Sakura could see the white cement pavement and infrastructure she had seen minutes ago but her attention was focused on something. Ichigo noticed that Jidanbo had suddenly became quiet after raising the gate so he ran in front of him. He looked at Jidanbo's eyes and noticed that they were fixed on something that was behind him(Ichigo). When he turned to look, his eyes narrowed. Someone stood in front of their gazes. A man with short silver hair stood in front of them, his eyes were closed but he had a mysterious fox-like grin playing on his lips. "Who is that?" Ichigo asked with a serious expression on his face. "The third division captain," Jidanbo muttered as he balanced the gate upon his hands, "Ichimaru Gin." The man's grin grew wider as he set his close eyes at them. Sakura looked up at Jidanbo and noticed that he kept on trembling as his gaze never left the silver-haired man. She shifted her gaze to the stranger once again but now her left eye was a blood red. 'Ichimaru…Gin…' she thought. And so suddenly, a deep cut situated itself on Jidanbo's left forearm. Blood stained the white cement and Jidanbo cried out in pain. Sakura narrowed her eyes, she had seen what happened, 'His sword…it…elongated.' Jidanbo withdrew his arm from supporting the gate and he let out a cry of pain but he managed to support the bridge. He fell to his knee and this surprised Ichigo and the others except Sakura. Her eye turned back to its original cerulean blue color. "Jidanbo!" Ichigo cried in concern. Sakura shifted her narrowed gaze to Ichimaru who by now sheathed his sword. "That ain't right." Gin spoke, "The gatekeeper ain't there to open the gates." Jidanbo lifted his head a bit and replied, "I lost. A gatekeeper opening the gate makes a perfect sense." The third division captain grinned before adding, "What are ya talking about?" He walked nearer to Jidanbo, "When a gatekeeper is defeated," his grin grew wider, "It means death." Jidanbo's eyes widened and Ichigo rushed towards Ichimaru, his zanpakuto clashing against Ichimaru's sword. They both jumped away from each other. Ichimaru never wiping his fox-like grin from his face and Ichigo whose eyes were narrower than before. He pointed his zanpakuto at the shinigami, "Any person who attacks an unarmed man without a second thought is mine to kill." Gin looked unfazed, "What a funny kid. Aren't you afraid of me?" "Quit that, Ichigo! We have to retreat!" Yoruichi cried at Ichigo. Sakura looked at Yoruichi, 'Is this Ichimaru Gin that strong?' Ichigo and Yoruichi soon after began to argue and Gin merely looked at Ichigo. "You're Kurosaki Ichigo?" the silver-haired man questioned. This caught Sakura's attention as well, 'How could he possibly know Ichi's name?' They continued to blab about things. Gin walked a few feet away from where he actually stood before. He got into position and Sakura wondered what he would do with that distance with his wakizashi. No sooner, the idea struck her and seconds his blade elongated once again but Ichigo shielded himself with the broadness of his zanpakuto. The force was so strong that it oushed the orange-haired teenager and the gatekeeper from their positions. Sakura had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit by Jidanbo's body. The gate fell from its height and Gin waved as he spoke, "Bye bye." But his eyes widened a bit and they were focused on her.

Sakura followed after everyone as they ran towards Ichigo who by now was complaining his injuries. Sakura looked back at the gate but it was now closed. She sighed, 'All that fighting for nothing.' Slowly, people began to get out of their houses and surrounded them. Sakura looked at each one of them, they wore kimonos. Sakura excused herself from the group and made her way out of the crowd. Sakura looked around among the houses for familiar faces, 'Could they be here somewhere?'


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Ganju

One of Rukongai's settlers offered their home for Ichigo and company to stay in for the night. Sakura sat a foot away from the doorway with her back propped against the wall. Somebody suddenly sat beside her which took her attention, it was Ichigo. He smiled and ruffled her hair which gave him a frown in return. This lightened Sakura a bit.

After dinner, they all assembled in the hearth room, Yoruichi was discussing how they could go into soul society without having to use the first method once again. Just as the discussion was getting more serious, they heard the stomping of hoofs outside of the house. Then, so suddenly, a man broke apart the wooden panel door and was tumbling into the hearth room. He clutched his head as he moaned in pain. No sooner a big boar with strangely a ribbon was tied onto its mane, the boar held a scowl upon its face. The man then stood up and dusted himself, "Oh my, Bonnie-chan threw off again." After dusting himself, he did a salute and spoke, "Yo! Long time no see, Old Dude." The chief of Rokungai only replied, "Ganju! What are you doing here?! Go away!" Sakura looked from the old man to gatecrasher to whom he addressed as Ganju. The man continued to blab before his eyes met Ichigo. He immediately took off his shades to give him a clearer view of Ichigo. Sakura studied Ganju's now that the shades that had obscured his face was now removed. His big black eyes were narrow and scrutinizing Ichigo and Sakura. "What are shinigami-samas doing here?" Ganju cried. He approached Ichigo and was mocking ever word Ichigo said. "Answer me you dandelion-head-" Ganju was cut off by Ichigo's punch wich threw him at the entrance of the house. Ganju held his bruised cheek and the two began to quarrel. Sakura let out an exasperated sigh, 'Men.' The Old man began to sip tea as if Ichigo and Ganju's fighting was any daily activity. "Who is that guy?" Ishida asked the old man. Ganju, overhearing what Ishida asked, "You don' know me?" All of the group except Yoruichi replied with 'I don't know you.' The boar rider took a pose as he was to introduced himself with self-proclaimed titles. Ichigo just let out a hmph and Sakura looked from Ichigo to Ganju. 'Shinigami hater? What could have happened in the past that made him hate shinigamis?' Sakura thought. The two goofballs began a glaring contest before Ganju tackled Ichigo out of the house. Sakura immediately ran after the two which was shortly followed by the group. As Sakura and the other were about to help Ichigo, they were barricaded by Ganju's goons. They were perplexed not by the goons appearances but because they too were riding on boars. Yoruichi tried to stop Ichigo from figting but Ichigo was determind to show that he could fight. Ganju drew a broad sword out of the scabbard that was situated on his lower back. The old man went out of his house to stop Ganju but both men were destined to fight each other. Ichigo was weaponless and it would get pretty dirty if he'd stay like that. So suddenly Chad appeared and threw the zanpakuto to its rightful owner. Just as Ichigo brandished his sword to fight, Ganju pushed it down to the ground by which was now quicksand. Ganju was using some sort of magic but they continued to fight despite the loss of weaponry. Just as Ganju was about to throw in a punch on Ichigo, the clock strapped on the back of one of the goons rang when it struck nine o' clock. Ganju immediately fumbled and he looked at his goons. They were spouting about in trouble because it was already nine. Ganju whistled and a boar hopped over Ichigo which hit Ganju a few meters from where he stood. No sooner he was rammed to the air only to arrive at his boar's back and he continued to spat at Ichigo. Ichigo who by now was aggravated at Ganju was about to spat venom was being ran over by Ganju's goons. Sakura walked to Ichigo's side as soon as the dust dispersed. Nothing was left of Ganju's company except a scratched and bruised fuming- with-anger-at-person-who-told-him-not-to-fly-away-but-was-the-one-who-flew-away Ichigo.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Shiba Kuukaku

The night before had been very troublesome; Ganju left the group an aggravated Ichigo last night. Sakura yawned as she walked beside Ichigo. This caught her cousin's attention, "Didn't sleep well, Sakura?" She looked up at him, "It's a bit like that, Ichi. I had so many thoughts in my head; I couldn't go to sleep directly." "Like what thoughts?" the orange haired teenager asked as he gaze back to the road in front of him. "Like, will I ever see my deceased family here?" she muttered as she balled her fists. Ichigo stopped in mid-step and so did everyone else. 'It must be very hard for Sakura-chan.' Orihime thought as her eyes bore down on Sakura's back. Not once did Ichigo thought of meeting his mother here, it never seem to past through his mind as it reeled on rescuing Rukia. Yoruichi set its golden eyes on the weary face of Sakura, "Shiroyuki Sakura." This caught Sakura's attention and she looked at Yoruichi with her troubled cerulean blue eyes. Yoruichi merely looked back at the road and began walking leaving the group puzzled. They quickly followed Yoruichi. 'So you're the orphan…' Yoruichi thought, 'the one that had killed a thousand hollows in a single night.'

_"Kisuke, there is hollow activity in Hanagami Shrine" Yoruichi spoke as its tail moved in fetish curves. The blonde shop owner who looked nine years younger than his current time looked at the black cat, "So she's awakened?" The feline nodded its head and the blonde man stood up. He pushed his hat down and he exited the room followed by Yoruichi. He had brought his cane and the two headed towards their destination. No sooner they were now in front of the shrine with their gazes fixed upon the shrine owner's house. Their bodies were invisible from the public's gazes. No sooner it had begun to rain and the door of the house was hastily pushed aside. A girl not younger than six ran out of the house, her face should fear and was tear-stained. As she was in front of their gazes, hollows began to appear and she was outnumbered. The hollows surrounded her, "Kisuke, the child-"But Urahara stopped the feline with his wooden cane, "Yoruichi-san, it's better if we just watch." He gestured to the hollows which by now were slowly being eradicated by a tower of red light or better a tower of red reiatsu. "She has this much reiatsu?!?!" Yoruichi's amber orbs widened as the reiatsu soon dissipated revealing the unconscious and limp body of the girl lying on the cement floor. The blonde nodded and walked away and Yoruichi followed his path, "Shiroyuki Sakura." Yoruichi lifted its head towards Kisuke, "The name of the child." The black feline stopped in its tracks and gaze back at the unconscious child before it made its way to walk beside Kisuke Urahara._

No sooner, Sakura found herself in front of a weird house. Big forearms stood as towers and the hands grip a banner which showed the name in clear bold letters, 'Shiba Kuukaku'. Ichigo walked towards the wooden door and was about to knock when two people stood at each fist of the towering forearms. Sakura looked up at them, they looked the same. 'Twins.' Sakura thought and the two men jumped down from the hands. "Who are you? And what is your business here?" they both asked in unison. "We came here to met Shiba Kuukaku." Ichigo stated blankly. "The Boss doesn't have business with strangers." Just as they were about to just quietly leave, Yoruichi poked itself out of Ichigo's frame and pointed itself with a clawed finger. The two men's eyes widened and they immediately apologized. The whole group turned to look at Yoruichi who continued to blab until they stopped. In front of them was a pair of wooden paper door panels. The gatekeeper slid the door aside revealing a woman who sat a few meters adjacent from the entrance. She was pretty and looked laid back. She had long black hair but she tied a cloth around her head which make her look like a pirate. Her black eyes were stern and inquisitive. She wore red clothing that could barely conceal her slim body. What was very eye-catching about her body was her right arm. It wasn't her actual arm but a wooden arm. "Long time no see, Yoruichi." The woman spoke. Then it popped into their mind, "Kuukaku is a woman?!?!?!"

Yoruichi asked Kuukaku to helped them get into Seireitei and to ensure that they would suddessfully get into Seireitei, Kuukakau was to introduce her minion who was actually her younger brother. When she slid the door open, it was none other than Ganju in a whole new different attire. All of their mouths dropped except Yoruichi when Ganju opened his eyes to see them he was shocked. After his gaze met Ichigo's they quickly got into a rumble and everyone in the room kept still. Just when the two knocked Kuukaku's cigar pipe. She shifted her annoyed gaze to the pipe which was on the floor. No sooner, Ganju's foot stepped on it, breaking it to pieces. This finally broke Kuukaku's control and she punched her arm onto the floor, making a big explosion. Sakura, Ishida, Orihime, Yoruichi and Chad escaped from the room and the fire even reached the entrance of the underground building. When they resumed back in, Kuukaku was beating the two boys for 'destroying' her house.

After Ichigo and Ganju's sermon, they proceeded unto a room where the big chimney's base was. Kuukaku ordered her gatekeepers, Shirohageniko and Kurogaheniko, to open something and no sooner the ceiling above them separated and the covering of the chimney gave way to its cream color. The floor they stood on was now elevated as the grass outside of the house. Kuukaku announced, "This will help you get into Seireitei." Sakura scanned the huge and tall chimney that stood in front of her. "Shootimg something into the air won't be able-" Ishida was cut off when Kuukaku threw a transparent ball onto Ishida's face and rolling on it a few times before jumping onto Ichigo's hands. "What's this?" The orange haired teen asked. "It's a Spirit Orb. You mold your reiatsu into the ball." Ichigo was trying so hard but he couldn't put any reiatsu into the ball. Kuukaku let out an annoyed sigh before get the orb and throwing it to her younger brother, "Ganju, show them." Ganju placed his reiatsu into the ball and a sphere enveloped him which earned ah's and oh's from the teenage spectators. Kuukaku explained the use of the spirit orb and how they would get into Seireitei. After her discussion, Ichigo was about to ask a question but Shirohageniko had slung him and Orihime onto the big broad shoulders of the said gatekeeper while Kurogaheniko took Ishida and Sakura. "Make them practice until they know how!" Kuukaku ordered and Sakura sighed as she was carried back into the house.

_This is gonna be a long day…_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Spirit Orb

Everyone was busy practicing with the spirit orb. So far Ichigo was having the hardest time and the twins weren't helping with their lively taunts. Sakura would have wanted to roll on the floor with laughter but she decided not to. She shifted her gaze and attention back to the spirit orb she held in her hands. She closed her eyes and focused her reiatsu into the transparent orb she held in between her palms. Slowly, light filled it and the same barrier that had enclosed Ganju had enclosed Sakura but hers was bigger than Ganju's. As soon as the two gatekeepers found that most of them had accomplished the task, the two gatekeepers let their guests perform what they had learned.

Orihime did well but Ishida's sphere was quite narrow by which Shirohageniko had commented that it was due to his personal issues. Chad was big but it was unstable and Sakura's was perfect though it was big. Lastly, Ichigo still wasn't able to put any bit of his reiatsu into the spirit orb. One of Ganju's minions stood in the doorway with an apron strapped onto his body, "Aniki, dinner's ready." Ganju then announced that dinner was ready and told everyone to eat. Sakura looked at Ichigo who had his back towards her. In his hands, he firmly gripped the spirit orb; as if he's lose everything if he'd ever let it go. "Ichigo." Sakura stood behind Ichigo and her face held pity. "Sakura, go ahead and eat. I'll follow after I'm done." He told her. Sakura didn't want to leave Ichigo but she felt that it would hurt his pride if she'd ever stay. Orihime wanted to stay as well but Ichigo talked her to eat. Sakura glumly followed the others as they walked towards the dinig room, trays of food were already set for each one of them. Sakura sat behind one, "Itadakimasu." She took her chopsticks and took the bowl of rice but her mind reeled on Ichigo. 'Ichi-nii' She let her chopstick dove into the fluffy white grains of food before ascending with a mouthful of them.

The whole place was rumbling and by now everyone except Orihime had finished eating. They felt that the tremors came from the room where they trained with the spirit orb. Sakura ran towards the room, behind her the others were sprinting towards the room as well. Even Kuukaku and Yoruichi ran to the room, Sakura's eyes widened. Ichigo was finally able to make the spiritual sphere but his was unstable, growing bigger as each second was made to pass. Kuukaku finally came into the room and she told Ichigo to suppress his reiatsu. The sphere was nos smaller than before but then it exploded. This earned Ichigo and Ganju a harsh and long sermon from the hostess. Sakura was thrown back by the explosion, blacking out for a while but it earned her another piece of memory.

_"Sakura." A young boy with short midnight black hair and a pair of forest green eyes spoke as he sat down to a young five year old Sakura. "Yes, oniichan?" the young girl asked. The boy looked in front of him, as if watching a show but it was only an empty garden, "You can see them, don't you?" The girl looked beside her to her fraternal twin, "Yes." Sakura's cerulean blue eyes fixed themselves upon the array of plants that grew in front of them. Children, no, ghosts of deceased children were playing tag in front of them. "You want to join them, don't you, Ru-chan?" the boy asked once again. The chibi Sakura took hold of her brother's hand, "Let's play with them, Keisuke-niichan."Keisuke smiled and stood up as he felt her younger sibling tug upon his palm with her small fingers. Yes, they could see ghosts already at such a young age._

"Sakura, daijoubu?" Orihime asked and helped Sakura to her feet. "Ah, yes, I'm fine, Orihime-chan." Sakura looked at her surroundings, everyone was looking inside the already roofless room, Kuukaku was beating Ganju and Ichigo. Nothing changed. 'Maybe I just blacked out a bit…' The brown-haired girl thought and she walked into the room.

The next day, they had stood in of the giant chimney structure that Kuukaku proudly made. Each of them stood in a circle, Ganju held the spirit orb in his hands. No sooner, all of them poured their share of reiatsu in the spirit orb and a sphere enclosed all of them. The sphere was perfect and stable and so Kuukaku fired the cannonball into the sky. It was quite a turbulent ride when they reached atop the Seireitei, the cannonball was having difficulty in penetrating the barrier. All of them placed more of their reiatsu in the spirit orb and finally it penetrated the barrier but the sphere was breaking them apart. Ichigo tried to reach out for Sakura but his hand failed him by mere inches and no sooner they were apart. Before Sakura was separated, she could hear her cousin yell out her name.

"Sakura!!!!"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Inside Seireitei

Luckily, after their separation, Sakura landed upon a tree. She didn't sustain severe injuries but just scratches, bruises and annoying twigs on her hair. After saving her hair from anymore leafy abuse, she looked down upon the cemented pathway of Seireitei. Shinigamis were running around, each of them telling each other to keep on watch for the ryoka, whish she suspected was them. She slipped down onto the roots of the tree as soon as the coast was clear. She gripped the upper portion of the scabbard of her zanpakuto and situated it firmly upon her waist as she knew she will be using it in the future. She ran towards the north, guided only by the white tower that stood high in front of her but the distance was rather some kilometers from her place but she felt that Rukia was inside that white tower. As soon as Sakura turned at a corner, she was met by a mob of the surveying shinigami that had passed by a while ago. "You! Identify yourself!" one of them cried. "I'm Kisaki Yume." Sakura immediately replied when they asked her. Her hand fell upon the hilt of her zanpakuto and she was prepared if ever her little introduction might fail. "Yume-san, what division are you? You seem to be alone." Sakura hesitated a bit, "F-fourth division, sir." The man that seemed to lead them cocked an eyebrow at her and scrutinized her. He went around her and examined her, "How come you don't have one of those bags you carry and you seem to be able to fight." He said. 'Damn, he's smart.' She thought and by now her hand was gripping the hilt loosely. "Is there something wrong here?" a womanly voice spoke. All of the shinigamis began to bow at the voice and they spoke, "Unohana-taichou." Sakura's eyes widened and she faced the voice behind her. She immediately bowed and looked up to the captain. She was a woman with long hair braided along her neck until her stomach. She had pleasing and calm eyes which seemed to reflect on her face. "Is there something wrong with Kisaki-san?" she questioned them and they stiffened. "Ah, I-ie." The leader spoke and they stood up straight. "Kisaki-san is just fresh from the academy. Now, let us go, Kisaki-san." She spoke and made her way to another direction. Sakura gulped and followed, "Hai, Unohana-taichou."

As the two of them walked, Sakura couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach and she could feel cold sweat run down her forehead every second. She felt that she was helpless in front of the captain that sauntered in front of her. Then Unohana stopped in her tracks and Sakura did as well. This did little to soothe her nervous conscience. "You're a ryoka, aren't you?" Sakura's eyes narrowed and her hand tightened upon her zanpakuto's clothed hilt. Unohana rested her eyes upon Sakura, the female captain could feel the tension of the teenager. The raven-haired woman narrowed her eyes at the young girl but a familiar voice erupted the tense and heavy silence that hung in the air. "Unohana-taichou!" Unohana turned towards the voice and found her vice captain, Kotetsu Isane, sprinting towards her. When Unohana resumed to look at Sakura, she had found that the teenager was no longer there.

Sakura clutched the fabric of her clothes that lay above her chest. Her heart pounded fiercely in her chest. Beads of sweat trickled down from her forehead and eventually drip off her chin to the floor, where they would disappear. She continued to pant and her cerulean blue eyes looked around the area. She was alone but she could hear footsteps approaching her. She looked for an exit; to her right was a pathway and the footsteps certainly came from the left direction. She immediately sprinted to the right pathway, trying not to make a lot of noise. But to her dismay, the path she had run to was a mere dead end and the footsteps were now louder than they were before. Her heart was now pounding harder than ever before and her ears were filled by its pounding. She looked up and found the roof was within her reach. She quickly jumped and reached the roof with her right hand and she used her left to help her up. She pulled herself up with little difficulty and she balanced herself upon the roof of the building but as she looked at the pathway no one was there. Suddenly, she felt a strong reiatsu around her. The force was so strong; she could feel the air in her lungs being knocked out of it. When Sakura shifted her gaze to the entire roof, she couldn't help but widen them. There was another person in front of her by which she knew who owned the very strong reiatsu.

It was…


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Dying

It was…_Kuchiki Byakuya._

Sakura let her right hand fall upon the hilt of her zanpakuto as the noble figure in front of her stood with a narrowed gaze. "You're one of the ryoka, aren't you?" he spoke in his cold voice. Sakura swallowed hard and replied with a polite tone, "Yes, I am." He drew his zapakuto and strode towards her, "You're Kurosaki Ichigo's. The girl named Sakura, am I correct?" Her reflection reflected on the Kuchiki's blade. Sakura, knowing that there was no way to escape, drew her blade and prepared to fight. 'I just seem to have rotten luck today.' Sakura thought as so suddenly the Kuchiki disappeared from her gaze. She quickly drew her sword to the right, countering the Kuchiki's blade with hers. His dark blue eyes narrowed and he jumped back. She gritted her teeth, she wasn't prepared enough to fight him this soon. She ran towards him, her zanpakuto prepared to slash at any moment but he beat her. He almost made a deep cut on sakura's right shoulder but she quickly dodged his counterattack. The two were so engrossed in fighting that they never noticed there were eyes that were watching their every move. Sakura ducked when Byakuya unleashed a horizontal slash and she slashed upwards. The Kuchiki barely dodged it, her attacked caused a long bleeding cut along his abdomen. His robes fell to his sides, revealing his muscular six-pack abdomen. Sakura's cheeks flushed into a deep crimson but she focused her attention in their fight. The noble Kuchiki cocked his brow at the growing blush upon the young girl's cheeks. A smirk played along his lips and he shunpoed once again. Sakura sprinted a few feet from her previous position and deflected the Kuchiki's blade once again but this time the noble was sly. He muttered an incantation and Sakura noticed and she tried to jump out of the way but the Kuchiki wasn't going to let her escape anytime soon. "Byakurai!" he cried and a thunder-like ball that had a hue of indigo flew quickly towards Sakura. Finding no way to dodge it, she tried to deflect it with her sword. The small ball hit her skin and she slumped to her knees. The spell paralyzed her left arm and burned the hem of the sleeves a bit. Sakura was now panting and she slowly stood up on shaky knees. Finding there was no chance of victory, she finally made a decision, "Make him bleed, Ryuketsu."

The young Kuchiki stood frozen in his tracks, 'This girl does not stop astonishing me.' Sakura's blade turned into a dangerous blood red color and the hilt changed into a more intricate design, with clothes clad in red and black. "So, you've found out your zanpakuto's name." he said and drew his blade in front of his face. "Chire, senbonzakura." He spoke and his blade diminished into smaller blades that turned pink due to the light's reflection. Sakura lunged at him with amazing speed but he had made use of Senbonzakura as his shield. The red blade had such difficulty that it never moved from its spot. Sakura looked up at him, his eyes widened. Her once cerulean blue eyes were now a murderous blood red. She jumped back and sheathed her sword; he calmed a bit and prepared for her next move. Sakura bent a little, her upper body bending forward a bi. Her left thumb raised the guard a bit from the entrance of the scabbard and her right hand was a few inches above the hilt. He arc a brow at her but nonetheless, he was prepared for any strikes. Then without warning, sakura drew her blade and made her way towards Byakuya. Sensing her attack, Byakuya let an array of his blades at her. She ran through them, they graze upon her skin, leaving bloody cuts as marks of their paths. Sakura slashed at the Kuchiki, wounding him at his other shoulder. Blood dripped from both their clothes, the cheery blossom blades pushed her back by a few feet. "You're so persistent." The blades upon his sword once again but now he held its blade facing the red plates of the rooftop. He released it and it was swallowed by the roof. Swords ascended behind him, "Bankai. Seonbonzakura Kageyoshi." Then the swords behind him erupted into thousands of cherry blossom petals. Before Sakura could grip anything, the blades slashed through her skin. Each one, leaving a deep bleeding gash upon her pale flesh with little difficutly. Sakura tried hard to fight them off but she couldn't, then she felt herself falling from the roof because of the blades. She shunpoed and landed onto her feet but fell to her knees because of the pain; she looked up at the man in front of her. He stood, his chin up high and his eyes narrowed down upon her small frame. His scarf was slowly collecting the blood from his wound. She used her zanpakuto to help her stand up, as soon as she looked up at the roof he was gone. Immediately, her eyes widened. 'No he can't be..!'

Ichigo was running a few steps and he felt his cousin's reiatsu grew. He stopped in his tracks and he looked behind him. He could sense Sakura's reiryoku but he couldn't pinpoint as to where she was. He looked up in front of him, there was so many steps and he ran towards the top. Just a few more steps from the top, he felt Sakura's reiyoku vanish and he quickly looked behind him. His brown eyes widening every second and he wanted to go to where she was, "No! Sakura!" Ichigo looked in front of him, 'only ten more steps,' and he looked down, 'and yet a hundred more steps towards Sakura.' He closed his eyes and sweat trickled down his brow. 'Damn, itoko.' He took a few steps down but suddenly he remembered what Sakura used to tell him even when they were still young, "Ichi-nii! Don't mind me, just finish what you have to do." He mentally cursed and looked back at the rooftops, "Sakura, be all right." He immediately sprinted to the top of the stairs.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Bankai

Pain…That was the first thing she felt as soon as she felt consciousness just beneath her fingers. She tried to move but her whole body felt as heavy as lead and pain coursed through her body like electricity. With much difficulty, Sakura finally managed to open her lead-like eyelids but she immediately hissed in annoyance upon blinded by warm sunlight. She looked around her, it was a small room. Weapons hung themselves upon the walls, the entrance was sealed by numerous wooden planks that seemed to be nailed at the edge of the cave mouth. She was laid on a futon, bandages wrapped around her body. "Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?" A familiar feline spoke. Sakura turned her gaze towards the black cat and met its amber gaze. "Weak…" she replied and sighed. Her cerulean blue eyes were filled with worry, anxiety and anger. As soon as she remembered she was in soul society, a thought popped into her mind, "Yoruichi-san, How'd you bring me here?!?!" The feline smiled and smoke emerged from her. As soon as the smoked dispersed, Sakura's eyes widened and she looked away with a heavy crimson blush upon her cheeks. "This is my true form." The woman who was "Yoruichi" had long dark purple hair and the same menacing amber eyes. Sakura threw the blanket at Yoruichi and spoke, "Yoruichi-san, please put on some clothes!"

After the woman dressed (after complaining that clothes were restraining), finally settled down beside Sakura. "You were the unluckiest," she spoke which Sakura knew was already so obvious, "so I've made a decision of training you." Instantly Sakura's head shot up at the woman who was beside her, "How?" An feline-like grin befell upon her lips, "By making you reach Bankai in three days."

"Sugoi na! This looks just as Urahara-san's basement!" she spoke in a tone of amazement. Indeed, the place was just like Urahara's basement but it seemed quite larger than what Urahara had. "It does. That place was made as a copy to this place. Kisuke and I used to play here everyday." Yoruichi spoke as she looked around and Sakura looked at her. 'Every inch of this place must have a memory of them etched on it.' The teenager thought. She shook the thoughts away and cleared her mind for the purpose of why she was here. "So, Yoruichi-san, how do I achieve Bankai in three days?" Yoruichi smiled and took hold of an object. It was a few inches shorter than her and the object was quite sturdy-looking. "With this. There are two types of releases, each zanpakuto has these two types. The first one is called Shikai." Sakura unsheathed her zanpakuto and muttered, "Make them bleed, Ryuketsu." The blade reacted and turned into a blood red and the hilt changed. Yoruichi smirked and nodded, "Yes, that's what they call the Shikai. A Bankai is hard to obtain even for talented people; it would take them a span of ten years. But with the use of this that span of time can be shortened into three days." Sakura looked at the tool then looked back at the closure of her battle with Byakuya.

_Sakura quickly looked behind her to see the young noble shinigami standing behind her. His zanpakuto still in their shikai form floated upon the breeze like actual sakura petals. She wrapped her forearm around her bleeding abdomen. Her teeth gritted and her cerulean blue eyes narrowed. She winced as she forcefully brandished her blood red blade and directed the tip upon the sixth division's captain. She took a few steps back and tried to shield herself from the blades with her arms covering her face. They ran against her skin like lighting and like lightning the pain it left was terribly unbearable. Sakura grew limp and fell onto the pavement floor, bleeding. She looked up and the noble captain had already compact his sword. He made a few curt steps towards her and his blade a few inches above her back. He drew it up and a foot above her wounded body before plunging it down upon her with such force. Sakura coughed out blood and felt her life force slipping beneath her fingers. Her vision was slowly being eaten away by darkness but before she was engulfed by it; a strong immense surge of power ran all over her body. She looked up once again and saw that the man's eyes in front of her widened with each passing second. No sooner after seeing the Kuchiki's dark blue eyes, she left her thoughts hanging as she entered the world of darkness and dreams. _

She sheathed her sword and looked at its simple silver blade, 'What really was that power?' Yoruichi threw the human-sized object and Sakura fixed her eyes upon it. Before it reached the ground, the object slowly turned into the human incarnation of her zanpakuto. The teenager's eyes widened and she muttered, "Ryuketsu…"

Indeed, there was young girl with the same long straight raven black hair that danced upon the dry breeze, the same crimson eyes that held innocence and depths of mystery and wisdom. The manifestation wore the same white kimono top and the same pair of black hakama pants. If she were to walk upon Soul Society, she would surely fit in but her aura would give people the idea that she was different. The girl smiled, "It's good to see you once again, Sakura." Sakura nodded and gripped her sword. The girl shifted her gaze from Sakura's bandaged body to the sword that lay upon the teenage girl's grasp. With the flick of her wrist, the sword dispersed into sand which fell onto the ground. Sakura's eyes widened and she hastily looked up at the incarnation. "In order for you to achieve Bankai, you must fight me with whichever weapon you see fit against me." Sakura raised her brow but looked around her. She was dumbfounded, the whole place was littered with weapons but they were mostly swords. Ryuketsu raised her hand and a sword materialized. It wasn't any sword but it was Ryuketsu itself but it was in shikai form. The incarnation swooped down and tried to slash the teenager with her sword but Sakura jumped out and drew out a pike from the ground. This was just the start.

Sakura skidded to the side, the weapon she held in her hands,broken. She threw it aside and quickly took another one, instantly repelling another attack from Ryuketsu. The weapon once, it was a lapier. Ryuketsu quickly disposed of Sakura's thin blade. "That's the 49th, Sakura. It's quite good that you can still fight after how many hours." Ryuketsu commented and slashed the air again. Sakura took hold of another weapon, this time it was a katana with a slim but long blade that estimated to be three feet long. She countered Ryuketsu's blade with the edge of her sword. Ryuketsu's lips curved into a smile and she jumped back. Ryuketsu lunged at her once again. Sakura was now fighting Ryuketsu with the same sword for about twelve minutes already. Ryuketsu jumped onto a higher platform of land. She suddenly slashed the air and clones of herself appeared all around the area. Sakura gripped the sword, 'This is it…!'


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Soukyoku

Sakura walked along the empty pathway, her zanpakuto sheathed upon her obi. It was so silent but she was quite aware of her surroundings. Her left hand situated itself upon the hilt of her sword as her cerulean blue eyes surveyed the rooftops. She quickly dashed onto the rooftops and proceeded to shunpo towards the tower of penitence. 'There's not much time left…'

Meanwhile, Ichigo was still in Yoruichi's hideout, Ichigo was still busy fightinh Zangetsu to obtain Bankai. She had left a few days after Ichigo was taken under Yoruichi's care. She had mastered Bankai in a span of two days and continuously fought Yoruichi for the past few days. She had left Yoruichi along with Renji. He was different from the Renji she had met long ago. He was quite hot-headed and a good company. Although they departed together, Renji took another path but both were heading towards the Soukyoku Hill. Sakura was a few feet from the long flight of stairs that would lead her towards the Soukyoku; she felt Renji's reiatsu dimished. Her cerulean blue eyes widened a bit and she looked in front. Smoke flew from the direction and a familiar reiatsu hung upon the atmosphere. She jumped down the rooftop and ran up the white cement stairs. She finally reached the top and she found debris all over the area but what caught her eye was Renji. He was lying on the ground, lying in a pool of his own blood. Sakura immediately rushed towards Renji but what caught her eyes was the scarf that was above Renji's body. No doubt it was the noble Kuchiki's scarf that adorned his neck. 'So the one responsible for this is…_Kuchiki Byakuya?!?!'_ Sakura thought and knelt down in front of Renji. She focused some of her reiatsu and placed it on her two fingers. These two fingers situated themselves upon Renji's tattooed forehead and the young red-haired vice-captain gained little consciousness. "Renji! Are you all right?!?!" Sakura exclaimed. Renji smiled and coughed out more blood, "Stupid girl. Get your butt out of here and save Rukia. That would be the best thing you'd do!" Sakura's brow furrowed themselves upon the insult but she complied. "Fine. Be sure to live, Renji." She stood up and ran up the stairs. Renji looked at the retreating figure, 'She reminds me of Rukia…'

Sakura was now in front of the very long stairs that lead towards the dry and barren top of Soukyoku Hill. Just as she took a step, she was stopped by a familiar voice, "Sakura-chan!" The young brunette turned towards the voice and found a familiar orange haired female. "Orihima-chan! Ishida! Chad! Ganju!" Sakura cried and the group approached her. Sakura found a new face amongst them whom she guessed was a real Shinigami. The man immediately bowed and introduced, "I'm Aramaki Makizou. One of the eighth seats of the eleventh division." Sakura nodded. "Come on guys, let's go." Sakura spoke and everyone nodded. There were thousands more of steps to go and each step would lead them closer to Rukia.

Sakura reached the top first than all of them, she looked around. It was barren, the earth was dry and grassless. The trees stood with dead branches, not even a single leaf hung upon them. The wind blew harsh against her skin, bringing along eroding earth and dust upon its breath.Sakura looked above the trees and saw the Soukyoku stood farther away. She could make out a white figure upon the brown wooden structure. Instantly her eyes widened at the realization, it was none other than Rukia. She ran away from the dead trees and followed the cleared path towards the Soukyoku. As soon as she ran out, the big weapon that had stood was released from its entailment of the ropes. From the weapon, a bird engulfed in flames appeared and it hovered in front of Rukia. Sakura hastily tried to run towards the Soukyoku but it was stopped in its path by something. Sakura stopped in her tracks as her cerulean blue eyes widened at the person who stopped the Soukyoku. "Ichi-nii…"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Escape

As soon as Ichigo showed up, Renji was now a few feet behind Sakura. "R-Renji! You're all right!" she cried. He smiled at her and immediately Ichigo looked at the two, "Renji! Sakura!" Upon the mention of the girl's name, the rokubantai-taichou immediately gazed at Renji's company. It was actually Sakura. He let a faint smile befall upon his lips and then focused his attention on Renji, No sooner the jyuusantai-taichou showed up along with his two third seats, Sentaro and Kiyone. The silver haired captain brought a big shield-like item and the eighth division taichou, Kyouraku took hold of the other end of the rope. Ukitake threw the rope around the beak of the Soukyoku; ceasing it from attacking Ichigo and Rukia. They drew their zanpakutos and slashed the shield, immediately revealing a vortex that seemed to suck the Phoenix. No sooner the huge flaming bird that hovered them, dispersed upon the wind and Ichigo drew his zanpakuto. Sakura cocked an eyebrow but was answered when her cousin slammed the blade onto Soukyoku's cross, instantly the center portion of the cross was diminished into dust and small debris. The captains that had gathered were astounded.

"Oi! Renji!" Renji drew his head towards Ichigo's call. He lifted Rukia and threw her towards Renji. Renji caught Rukia and because of the force was moved a few feet from where he stood. The two former Rokungai children cussed at Sakura's cousin. Even Sakura herself was quite shocked with what her cousin had done. Immediately after throwing Rukia, Renji ran away from the area. He ran past Sakura who nodded and she took hold of the hilt of her zanpakuto. The vice-captains were ordered to retrieve Rukia so the first, second and fourth vice-captains tailed upon Renji. Sakura took out her zanpakuto but before she could fight them, her cousin beat her to it. He plunged the blade of his zanpakuto unto the ground before disposing Renji of his oppressors. Sakura felt someone coming and she knew who it was but Ichigo blocked the blade that was aimed for him. "I can see you, Kuchiki Byakuya." The Kuchiki narrowed his dark eyes and stepped back. "Sakura, you go with Renji!" Sakura nodded and ran after the red head.

She finally caught up with Renji, "Renji! I'll tail with you to make sure the two of you are safe." Sakura spoke and the two nodded their heads. Sakura looked back at the top of the stairs, 'Ichi, please be okay.'


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Back from the Top

It had been a while since the tree of them ran away from danger's grasp, Soukyoku Hill. Sakura took care of the cronies that would barricade their path, giving Renji easy access to escape with Rukia. He was planning to bring Rukia to the safest place he knew. Away from everything, away from Byakuya and he knew where. "Rokungai." Sakura gazed at the red-haired vice captain as they ran through the maze-like pathway of Seireitei. "Rokun…gai…?" the young female asked. "That's where Rukia and I lived before we came to Seireitei." He spoke. Sakura nodded, immediately getting the idea as to where they were heading. She felt Ichigo's reiatsu increased a moment ago, this she concluded that he used his bankai. It had been a while since Ichigo's power rose but Byakuya didn't falter. It rose as well and equaled that of Ichigo. She was worried of Ichigo but she knew that everything would end well. At least, what she hoped.

They were already nearing the gate that would lead them into the outskirts of Seireitei but the first district of Rokungai. They were a few meters away when a captain barricaded their path. He was tanned with dark violet hair. A stiff orange cloth hugged around his neck and he wore 'goggles'. "Tousen-taichou." Renji muttered. Sakura unsheathed her sword and glared at the blind captain. Suddenly the ninth squad captain, took out a long bandage and the bandaged surrounded them. Renji drew his sword in case and before Sakura could attack the captain, she found herself back in Soukyoku Hill. 'Damn, and we were trying to escape this place.' She threw Tousan an intense death glare. She noticed that the Hill was empty, except for the destruction of the land that Ichigo and Byakuya's fight had wrought. "Welcome, Abarai and ryoka.." A manly voice broke Sakura's chain of thought and she whipped her head to the owner of the said voice. It was a captain which she had suspected; he had messy brown hair and brown eyes which were shielded by his glasses. Behind him was another captain but Sakura knew who it was, it was the silver-haired Ichimaru Gin. Renji stood with wide eyes beside her, his mind reeled on disbelief. "Aizen-taichou, y-you're alive." He murmured. "Put down Kuchiki Rukia and Leave."

Aizen drew his sword and approached Renji. Renji was no match even if he already released his shikai. Suddenly Aizen appeared behind Renji, just before the blade could wound Renji once again. Sakura used Ryuketsu to defend Renji. "Oh, so your sword isn't just for display." The brown haired captain spoke. Sakura gritted her teeth and tried to push him off with her strength. Aizen smirked and cupped her cheek with his free hand. Sakura hissed in annoyance and jumped back. Aizen suddenly vanished, Sakura's eyes widened. As she was about to turn around, she felt the captain's sword graze her back and the trickling feeling of blood was too be felt. She fell towards the dirt and gritted her teeth in pain. Just as Aizen was about to deliver his final blow, a black sword protected her. She looked up at her savior, "Ichi-nii…"

Renji, Ichigo and Sakura agreed on finishing Aizen with their joint attack. Renji unleashed an attack that brought the broken pieces of Zabimaru to attack independently towards Aizen while Ichigo and Sakura lunged at Aizen at the same time. But their plan was all in vain. Aizen's index finger prevented Ichigo from even slashing while his other hand took hold of Sakura's right wrist. He quickly released Sakura hand and slashed at Ichigo waist before plunging his sword at Sakura's stomach. He quickly vanished and appeared behind Renji dealing a deep shoulder wound on the red haired vice-captain. Renji and Sakura were rendered unconscious.

_Bankai…_

"_What..?"_

_Use your bankai._

"_My bankai…"_

_Yes, use my power…_

"_Your power…?"_

_The power you unlocked from our training._

Sakura finally gained consciousness and found that all the other captains even Jidanbo, Kuukaku, Yoruichi and the others were already in the Hill. Sakura immediately sat up and Orihime and the others quickly approached her. "Sakura-chan, daijoubu?" Sakura smiled, "Daijo-" The brown haired girl quickly clutched her chest as her heart felt like it was crushed by some certain power. Immediately everyone in the area looked at her, a tower of red reiatsu shot up from her body towards the sky. Aizen smirked, "So my intuition was correct." Yoruichi narrowed her amber eyes while Soi fon looked confused. Just so suddenly, Aizen appeared in front of Sakura and the others. Yoruichi looked back at the Aizen that stood in front of her. It was slowly dissipating. "An illusion."

Sakura felt her body temperature rise a few degrees as a shadow loomed over her. Orihime quickly summoned Tsubaki while Chad scooped her into his big arms. Sweat poured from her body as Ganju and Ishida made sure that Aizen was busy. Chad was now a few feet away from where he was previously and Sakura had a good view of what was happening. Just when they were already fifty feet away, Aizen was now in front of Chad. Sakura quickly looked back at her friends, they were on the floor; bathe in their pools of blood. Aizen yanked a weak and feverish Sakura from Chad's arms before thrusting his zanpakuto into the Mexican's body. A smirk played along the traitor's lips as he held Sakura by the collar of her shinigami robes. "Sakura!" Ichigo cried from afar. A frown replaced the growing grin on Aizen's lips and he released his tight grasp on Sakura's robes. He shook his fingers as it was throbbing from a burn. Sakura fell on her two feet. The red reiatsu enveloping her body and dancing upon it like wild flames. The teenager unsheathed her zanpakuto and raised it overhead. It's blade remained silver but it seemed to throb with power. She slashed the air bringing her sword to the side muttering a familiar chant, "Bankai."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Tenko

Aizen narrowed his eyes and jumped to a farther distance. Not one of the onlookers dare move as the teenager unleashed her bankai. The tower of red reiatsu broaden as the clouds upon the sky dispersed upon the faint touch of the light. The earth shook beneath their feet as the girl's reiryoku spread upon the hill. Even the great Yamamoto-soutaichou could not believe of the existence of such reiatsu. As soon as the pillar of light dispersed, Sakura had released her Bankai.

Five swords rotated themselves around her, their blades of different colors which symbolized the elements that composed the earth. Sakura stood with those piercing red eyes as she took hold of two swords, one of which had a black blade and the other was red which was then encased in flames. The other three swords disappeared from sight and she immediately shunpoed towards the smirking Aizen. She slashed at him but he dodged most of them. A malicious grin gripped along the sides of the girl's mouth as her blood red eyes focused on her prey. Aizen stopped in his tracks as soon as a trail of blood slid down the corner of his mouth. He wiped it with his left thumb and looked down to see a blue blade penetrating his abdomen. It was quickly jerked out of his body and he shunpoed a few feet away from his opponent. Sakura stood with a serious expression, her red eyes showed the eyes of a killer. No sooner, the skies were ripped apart and what looked like Menos Grandes emerged. Towers of light flashed upon the three traitors. Aizen muttered a few incoherent words but his gaze remained on Sakura. "We will come back for you, Tenko." Aizen and his two followers joined the Menos Grande and they disappeared. Sakura's Bankai wore off and she plunged her sword upon the earth to stop her from falling but it was futile. She fell to her knees and began to cough out blood. The darkness was slowly eating her vision. Just before she fell to the ground, she fell into familiar strong arms, "Ru-chan!" She smiled and drifted off, "Onii…chan…"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Keisuke-oniichan

Sakura awoke to a bright morning in a different house. She laid in a futon with bandages and a compress upon her forehead. She sighed and slowly sat up. She examined the room with her tired cerulean eyes. It was quite large; the walls were decorated with paintings of flowers and trees that gave the feeling of one being in the garden. There was a simple wooden drawer, a mirror stood upon it. There was a desk and some lamps that would lit the room at night. There were two pairs of sliding paper doors. The one that stood open showed a portion of the garden. Tall Sakura trees and bushes of flowers decorated it. The scents of various flowers wafted into the room, calming the young girl's nerves. Sakura fell back unto the futon and closed her eyes, "where am I?"

"You're back home." A deep masculine voice replied and she heard the other pair of doors being slid aside. She opened her eyes and they widened at the approaching figure. It was a man with familiar long midnight black hair and calm forest green eyes. His face was like a reflection of hers except it had a hint of masculinity and a smile graced the pale lips. "Ohayo, Ru-chan." Tears slid from the young girl's eyes as the man continued to smile at her. She quickly pulled him into an embrace but regretted as pain shot through her body. "Now, now, don't get all giddy." He chuckled and Sakura pouted. "Baka, oniichan!" she scowled. She missed saying that name.

Shirayuki Keisuke was a noble, a part of the aristocratic Shirayuki clan which was serving under the Kuchiki clan for unknown reasons. He was to be appointed as the head soon. He was a calm figure with his entrancing and calming forest green eyes. He was dressed in what looked like casual noble robes. His family, the Shirayuki clan were quite proud of him as he had ascended into the ranks with ease. Not because of his nobility but because of his skills and knowledge.

Sakura sat at the shiny wooden floorboards that laid upon her as the floor. Her mystified cerulean blue eyes were entranced upon the flora of the mansion's garden. They were deep in thought but she was quite aware of her surroundings. No sooner her eyes were covered by a pair of hands and she smiled as she knew who it was. "Guess who?" a high pitch childishly feminine voice broke the ambience. Sakura gently took the hands from their place and she looked at the person, "Orihime-chan." Orihime smiled but then a thought made known to her mind, "Eh?! Sakura-chan, how did you guess so easily?" Sweat trickled down her brow and Sakura let out a nervous laugh. 'As if the breasts weren't that obvious.' "I just know Orihime-chan. I felt your reiatsu." Orihime did the 'so that's it' sign, you know the hand thing. Sakura inwardly chuckled, "Ah, Sakura!" Another voice broke the silence but it was that of a man. It was Ishida's voice. He wore the same Shinigami clothes as of before but now he looked refreshed and more composed than the last time she saw him. "Shiroyuki-san, Are you all right?" Sakura gave him a confused stare, "You've been out for five days." Sakura showed a shocked expression, " I was out that long?!"


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Hidden Emotion

Sakura had been able to manage herself and began to explore Seireitei to exercise her body from the long sleep. She had decided to visit Ichigo who was still in the fourth division's hospital mending his wounds and injuries under Unohana's care. Her feet gracefully walked upon the floorboards of the hospital as she sensed as to where her cousin was. She felt his over-pouring reiatsu from the other end of the hallway just as she was heading towards him. Her feet were suddenly glued upon the floorboards as another familiar reiatsu came upon her senses. She found the familiar reiatsu just a door away from her. Her mind was pondering to peek or not. But she finally ceased the debate and decided to take just a short glance. She made her way and slowly cracked the door open noiselessly. There he was sleeping under the white hospital covers. His pale eyes closed and his chest rose and fell to the rhythm of his breathing. Sakura couldn't help but smile. Just as the smile came, she wiped it away. She felt angry for herself and she could feel the warmth feeling of a blush upon her cheeks. Without a further ado, she quickly and noiselessly closed the wooden door and preceded to her cousin's room, unbeknownst the cold blue eyes that had studied her before she left.

Sakura quietly crept into Ichigo's room, he was sleeping. It was late in the afternoon, she guessed that he was tired by all the things that happened. She smiled inwardly as she knew her cousin was now resting because now, Rukia was safe. She puffed her cheeks in annoyance and sighed, 'Rukia's so lucky.' She drifted her thoughts from her cousin before they befell upon a certain cold and stoic captain of a certain sixth division. A blush crept upon her cheeks and she chuckled inwardly. The young Kuchiki noble let out a sneeze and wondered who was thinking of him. Sakura shook the thoughts away and wondered why she'd ever think of such an arrogant man. But the answer was suddenly summed up by the past events that had happened between them. Not to mention that Sakura liked cold and stoic guys. She sighed and looked at her cousin's sleeping form, was she truly infatuated by this young noble?


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Back to Earth

Ichigo had fully recovered from his injuries and they had planned to leave by tomorrow as not to miss the resume of the school days. All the captains lined up as Ukitake-taichou opened the gate towards the real world. Sakura's now vibrant blue eyes gazed upon the captains of Gotei 13, she was looking for a specific one. Finally they found the stoic face with the white noble headpiece, kenseikan. He was as stoic as he had been but there was very little emotion from his eyes. So suddenly he looked at her and she looked away, a blush creeping along her pale cheeks. Now, it was time to go and Keisuke hugged Sakura once again before ruffling her hair, "Take good care of yourself, Ru-chan." The teenage girl frowned and spoke in an annoyed tone, "I will, I'm not a five year old, niichan." He smiled and she smiled back before running after her friends and disappearing once again from his sight. The gate dispersed and the captains retreated to their respected divisions to continue their duties. Kuchiki Byakuya stood for a while before walking to his division, 'So she was a Shirayuki…'


	23. FILLER

----------------------------------------

FILLER

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Sakura was gazing outside her window once again, her thoughts were void of anything. She was humming a sweet melody though no one was annoyed, it was lunch. She had declined Orihime's invitation to join their picnic. Her chin was propped on her hand, her cerulean blue eyes focused on the boughs of leaves that swayed with the wind.

"And here I find you daydreaming." Ichigo's voice broke her chain of thought. She slipped her chin off her palm and turned to look at her cousin. He wore a smug look and Sakura punched him lightly on the stomache. "Ouch." He retorted. She chuckled and shooed him away. He went away with a sigh and she continued to gaze outside once again. The wind picked up bringing some sakura petals along its path and they swiveled upon the dusty ground. Her eyes widened when she saw a figure but upon blinking it was gone. "Just my imagination…" she murmured. A single name played upon her mind…

…

_**Byakuya…**_


	24. POEM

Just a poem that spoils the story a bit…kind of like the trailer for the future chapters…

**ENJOY!!!**

---------------------------------------

_**Is it Farewell?**_

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Slipping from my grasp,

Tears and dreams falling in vain, too fast

Bring me to your embrace

Please don't leave me in this dark place

Am I fading into darkness?

Will you let me succumb to my sadness?

Who are you?

And Who am I?

Why do I see tears in your eyes?

What do mean by 'good-bye'?

Please don't let me go,

Have you forgotten who I am?

That was a time not long ago

Am I so unimportant? Damn…

Heaven is such a bright place

And yet I am here in this dark abyss

Has our love gone to waste?

Why have you lived with these?

Tears tell me you're not meant for me

Time flies by and I try to grasp it

But every time I try, it's just not good for me

And I end up getting hit hard by it

Is it farewell from now on?

Do we have to break the bonds soon?

Will your smile ever be seen yet again?

Will your light be in vain?


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 23: A New Leaf

Leaves crunched beneath her steps as the fresh scent of autumn mystified the cold morning air. She tucked a lone strand of brownish gray hair behind her ear. Ah, autumn and a few more days it would be winter. She tightly grasp on the handle of her brown school bag as she hurried her pace. The leaves fell from the boughs of brown branches. Their shades of yellow, red and brown adorned the gray cement as they landed with ease. The wind toyed with them ever so often. The young teen ceased her running and looked behind herself, "Hurry up slowpoke!" She cried to a slow paced orange-haired teen that seemed to smile at her movements. Gone were the spring and the summer. Gone were the bounto as well. They had ceased the attack of the bounto at Soul Society with the aid of their friends. It was rather sad seeing humans die, humans just like them. The young female stopped in her tracks and she looked up at the fluffy clouds that moved in their slow pace. "What are you thinking now?" the orange teen stopped beside her, noticing her deep in her thoughts. "Nande mo nai (Nothing). Let's hurry up." And she sprinted leaving the orange-haired teen to wonder what she had in her mind.

"_We are all just mere tools."_

"_No we aren't! We have feelings, we are rational. We have the right mind to make our own decisions."_

"…"

"_Why can't you see it?"_

Sakura sighed; lately this dialogue had plagued her mind. She flipped her g-tech pen between her fingers as her eyes skimmed the surroundings behind of her window. Rain pattered upon the see-through glass, creating a noisy rhythm in the classroom. She looked in front, Mr. Einosuke was defining their new lesson, Velocity and Gravitation. She sighed quietly and stretched her arms in front of her desk, accidentally hitting Tatsuki. "Gomen, Tatsuki-chan." Tatsuki gave a curt nod in acceptance. The brown-haired teen folded her arms upon her yellow desk and layed her head upon her arms. The cold was comforting, inviting her to sleep. Her eyelids seemed to droop and her senses dulled as it took a sip of drowsiness. No sooner was she in the embrace of sleep.

_She stood there as her eyes, wide in shock at the figure in front of her. "Kariya…Jin…" her voice was a whisper as a wind swept the dirt upon their feet. The silver-haired man looked at her. Somehow, his eyes softened. She gripped her zanpakuto's hilt in caution. You can never be too careful. "Fret not girl, I'm not gonna fight you." Sakura calmed down,"Naze? (Why?)" The man's lips were graced with a smile, "Would you rather have me take your life?" She shook her head, "I would just like to ask, why do you want soul society to perish?" He looked at the sky then at the female shinigami. "This is all soul society's fault. They created us and we suffered because of them. This is for revenge."He spoke and Sakura's eyes softened, 'He must have gone through a lot in the past.' "You, I may ask why did you become a shinigami?" His question caught her off-guard. "I-I became a shinigami because I want to protect my loved ones." And so suddenly a picture of him appeared within her mind and she could feel her cheeks flush a faint pink. Jin laughed at her flushed feature, she was indeed unique and interesting. She was beautiful, that he had to admit. She straightened herself up and she casually looked at him. "You might think of me as someone who is full of herself but I just want to say, you have the ability to make decisions. Neither to fight nor to accept. It's all just within you, which one you choose." Just before she could even hear his reply, Yoshi, the female Chinese bounto attacker her without hesitation._

"Oi, Shirayuki. Shirayuki. Wake up, Shirayuki!" an aggravated man's voice jolted her awake. Sakura looked at the annoyed face of her teacher. "This is the first time you slept in my class. I guess it shall be tolerated but if you ever sleep again, I'll quickly issue a detention for you." The stern man spoke. "H-hai, sensei." Sakura replied and sat down straight upon her chair. She sighed and looked outside of the window. 'A new day, what could be in store for me?'

The rain had vanished leaving puddles upon the rooftop floor. Asano and Mizuiru accompanied by Orihime, Chad, Ichigo, Ishida and Tatsuki. Quite a lot they were, eating their lunch atop the building. Soon, they'll be in high school, like normal sixteen year olds except Sakura, Ichigo, Chad, Orihime and Ishida. Sakura took a piece of onigiri and munch upon it. She looked up at the clear blue noon sky, the clouds dispersed making the sun's presence known. Suddenly, there was…


End file.
